Vikings Place Franchise Tag on Anthony Harris, May Still Trade Him

In a surprising move, the Vikings have used the franchise tag for the third time ever, and Harris will not hit free agency.

The Vikings have placed the franchise tag on safety Anthony Harris, according to Ian Rapaport of NFL Network.

A surprise: the #Vikings have franchise tagged S Anthony Harris, either keeping him in Minnesota or allowing them to trade him. Maybe the top FA safety won’t be free.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2020

This move comes just minutes before the tagging deadline of 12 p.m. eastern time on Monday. And as Rapaport mentions in his tweet, it's a rather big surprise. All the evidence heading into this week's free agency period suggested that the Vikings were preparing to let Harris leave and sign elsewhere.

But with an extension worked out for Kirk Cousins on Monday morning that reduces his cap hit by roughly $10 million in 2020, plus the recent cap-saving cuts of Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph, the Vikings have cleared up enough room to consider keeping Harris.

The surprising element of this news is not just that Harris might be a Viking this fall, but that the team used the franchise tag. This is just the third time in franchise history that the Vikings have used the franchise tag; they used it on Chad Greenway in 2011 and on Jim Kleinsasser in 2003.

What it means is that instead of signing Harris to a long-term contract, the Vikings will keep him for one year at a set price that is the average of the top five safety salaries in the league, preventing him from hitting free agency. The official 2020 tag number for safeties is $11.4 million, which is less than Harris would've commanded annually on the open market. This doesn't guarantee that Harris is back next season; he could still be traded. But a return to Minnesota is now far more likely than it seemed just yesterday.

Update, Tuesday 3/17: The Vikings are reportedly open to trading Harris for a "mid-to-late round pick," according to Ian Rapaport. It sounds like that wording may not be exactly correct, as Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has reported that the Vikings are asking for a second or third-round pick in a potential deal. It sounds like there's a decent chance the Vikings end up parting with Harris (and clearing cap space) after all. Rick Spielman must value a 2020 pick over the 2021 compensatory pick the Vikings would've gotten by letting him walk in free agency. Of course, the Vikings could still keep Harris and potentially try to work on a long-term deal.

Harris had a breakout season in 2019, leading the NFL with seven interceptions across the regular season and playoffs. He was graded by Pro Football Focus as the top safety in the entire league. Even with the franchise tag salary, the 28-year-old former undrafted free agent is about to double his career NFL earnings next season.

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