Harrison Smith: Does he deserve to be highest-paid safety?
By Dan Zinski
Harrison Smith is now the highest-paid safety in the NFL, but is he the best?
The Minnesota Vikings finally locked down star safety Harrison Smith. Monday morning news broke that the Vikings have given Smith a new contract worth a reported $51.25 million over five years with $15.2 million guaranteed plus a $10 million signing bonus.
Over the Cap reports that Smith will receive $28.578 million in total guarantees.
That deal makes Smith the highest-paid safety in the NFL in terms of average annual salary. Earl Thomas had been the previous top man in that category with $10 million APY. Franchise-tagged Eric Berry will play for $10.8 million but that doesn’t become official until July 15 and he and the Chiefs could still hammer out a new contract in the meantime.
In terms of guaranteed money, Smith is on par with Devin McCourty who received $28.5 million when signing with the New England Patriots in 2015.
When Earl Thomas re-signed with Seattle a couple years ago, he received a reported $25.7 million guaranteed (via Spotrac). When they signed him in 2014, the Saints gave Jairus Byrd a reported $26.3 million in guarantees.
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Smith did receive a slightly higher signing bonus than Thomas, getting $10 million (via Tom Pelissero) while Thomas got only $9.5 million. Byrd’s signing bonus was reported to be worth $11 million. Devin McCourty broke the bank with a whopping $15 million signing bonus last year.
You can break down the numbers any way you want, but the bottom line is that Harrison Smith got paid. Does he deserve to be (at least temporarily) the highest-paid safety in the NFL?
Folks around the country might be slightly surprised to see Smith getting this much money. Though he is highly-regarded by the analytics crowd and others who closely follow the game, I’m not sure regular football fans outside of Viking Nation are that familiar with Smith’s exploits.
Certainly Smith is not as widely-known as people like Devin McCourty, Earl Thomas and Eric Weddle. A lot of that is down to Smith’s relatively no-nonsense, unflashy style. Smith is not a self-promoter or a look-at-me type of player. He doesn’t talk trash through the media or run around with a mohawk or do other stuff to call attention to himself.
All Smith does is go out on Sundays and make plays. Lots of plays.
Smith may not be the best safety in any one area, but he is very good in all areas. He may not be the biggest ball-hawk but he will get you a pick. He may not be the most bone-rattling hitter but he will definitely lay the lumber from time-to-time. He is a very sound form tackler, and has been almost from the first second he took the field.
If Smith truly excels in any one area it’s in his pure football instincts. Even as a rookie you could tell he was playing the game just a tiny bit faster than the average human.
To me, Harrison Smith absolutely deserves to be (at least temporarily) the highest-paid safety in the NFL. He is arguably top five in the league right now and still can get better. If Mike Zimmer can finally find the right guy to line up alongside him, allowing Zim to take the leash off, Smith could be in line for an amazing season. Defensive player of the year is not out of the question if Smith’s full potential is unleashed.
Folks around the country may not know Harrison Smith, but that will change if the Vikings keep playing great defense and keep winning.