Assessing market value for Vikings safety Anthony Harris

Minnesota Vikings safety Anthony Harris could be in line for a bumper deal this offseason after a standout campaign in 2019.

There was not much that Minnesota Vikings safety Anthony Harris did not do last season and he is set to receive a significant financial reward as a result.

The 28-year-old elevated his game to a new level during the 2019 campaign and he emerged as one of the best players operating at the position.

His partnership with perennial Pro Bowler Harrison Smith was simply outstanding. After penning a one-year, $3.095 million deal last season, Harris could become one of the NFL’s highest-paid safeties when he tests free agency in the coming weeks.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer will not want to lose a vital cog in his defense. Especially when one considers veterans like Everson Griffen, Linval Joseph, Xavier Rhodes, and Trae Waynes may not be around for next season.

Minnesota’s front office has been known to reward strong performance with current roster members over the years. This has been met with mixed fortunes, but there is no doubt Harris is worthy of a lengthy deal providing they can relieve some of their expected salary cap problems.

In 2019, his six interceptions were tied for first among all players in the NFL. Add Harris’ 60 combined tackles and 11 pass deflections to that and you have a hugely influential player both in passing and running situations.

Harris is also entering the prime years of his career and he will need to be paid accordingly. There isn’t much to suggest his play is going to drop off in the next couple of seasons.

It remains to be seen just how much Harris will command from Minnesota or another franchise. High paid safeties such as Eddie Jackson of the Chicago Bears, Eric Byard of the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins standout Landon Collins, and the Super Bowl-winning Tyrann Mathieu of the Kansas City Chiefs are the only players making an average of $14 million-plus per season.

This amount is not realistic for either the Vikings or a player with just one year of elite production. But there is nothing to suggest Harris is not going to get eight figures per season on a new deal.

Minnesota already commits a substantial amount of their cap to the safety position thanks to the five-year, $51.25 million extension given to Smith in 2016.

There are still two years left of this deal with both including a cap hit of around $11 million. Smith is still playing at a formidable standard and he is the heart and soul of the Vikings’ defense, so he is still worth every cent.

Whether Minnesota will want to allocate another big deal to the safety spot is up for debate. Given how well Harris did last season, the Vikings would be wise to invest.

Somewhere along the lines of $11-12 million annually should be enough to get the deal done. Spotrac calculated Harris’ projected market value at an average of $13.8 million per year on a five-year, $68 million deal.

There is also the prospect of Minnesota franchising Harris to keep him around if a long-term deal cannot be reached. This is projected to cost around $12.7 million in 2020, which would be similar to what Harris is expected to be looking for in his next contract.

It might be the more likely solution, but players do not like playing without a sense of security. A contract holdout would not be a welcome situation for Harris or the Vikings’ new joint defensive coordinators Adam Zimmer and Andre Patterson.

Any potential departure would be a potential disaster for Minnesota’s defense that relies heavily on the standout safety duo. Hopefully, the necessary moves can be made in order for the Vikings to make Harris an attractive offer that he ends up taking.