After a surprise move in utilizing the franchise tag on safety Anthony Harris yesterday morning, it sounds like the Minnesota Vikings might not be done working with him. At the time of tag application it was noted by many that while the tag carries with it a cap hit north of $11 million, this move would give the team the opportunity to work out a more affordable long-term deal...-OR-...work on a trade to send him to another team.
At the time, that last line was an afterthought. We all just assumed they would start working on a new long-term deal with a lower cap hit for 2020. As of this morning, that trade option has been revitalized.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Vikings have actually informed other teams that Harris is available via trade and they might just be looking for a mid round pick.
I'm not sure how I feel about this rumor yet, but RapSheet is usually spot on.
Keeping Harris as is would put something like $22-$23 million on the back end of the Vikings defense with Harris and Smith. More likely they'd give Harris some long-term security and less money in 2020 but it would still be expensive for two players.
On the other hand, is this whole move really worth a mid round pick? I'm not sure what sort of compensatory pick you could have gotten in the future, maybe they are looking to reload and rebuild one year faster.