Inside The Vikings

Will Harrison Smith retire or return for a 14th season with Vikings?

The date at which we'll learn Smith's decision is approaching.

Will Ragatz

Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) directs the defense against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium.
Nov 17, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) directs the defense against the Tennessee Titans during the first half at Nissan Stadium. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
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Whether he's already made his mind up or not, it won't be too long before we learn if Harrison Smith is going to return for a 14th season with the Vikings.

Smith, 36, left the door open for potential retirement after the conclusion of last season. He's been thinking about his future on a year-to-year basis for a couple years now. Now the date is approaching where he has to inform the Vikings of his decision, because if he's going to be back in Minnesota, there will have to be another adjustment made to his contract.

Under Smith's current deal, if he's on the Vikings' roster on the third day of the new league year, a $25 million base salary for 2026 becomes fully guaranteed. That's obviously not happening, so that date — March 14 — serves as the functional deadline for Smith and the team. Either he retires or the two sides work out a restructured deal to keep him in Minnesota for the 2025 season. They could also cut him and let him explore free agency, but it seems unlikely that Smith would want to spend his 14th NFL season playing for any franchise other than the only one he's ever known.

One Vikings insider thinks Smith might be coming back.

"I'll just tell you, from what I've heard, I really wouldn't be surprised if Harrison Smith is back playing another year," The Athletic's Alec Lewis told KFAN's Paul Allen at the NFL combine this week.

Smith didn't look like a guy on the verge of retirement last season. After news broke on March 13th that he was coming back for a 13th year on a restructured deal, he went on to play 1,062 defensive snaps across 16 regular season games and one postseason game, missing one mid-December contest due to a foot injury. He had a typical late-career Harrison Smith season, recording 87 tackles, three interceptions, ten total passes defended, 11 pressures, a sack, and a very solid 67.7 PFF grade.

The end is coming sometime soon for Smith. But he can still play at a high level and he loves playing for Brian Flores, so it wouldn't be shocking if he wants to run it back for one more year in 2025. Within the next two weeks, we'll learn if that's happening.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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