In past years, Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith has made a decision about playing the upcoming season well by mid-March and the start of free agency. This March, ostensibly to allow him some extra time to decide his future, the team released him with a post-June 1 designation to free up a roster spot.
The move to release Smith has been regarded as purely procedural and not an indication of anything regarding his decision to play next season. While drafting a safety to eventually replace him is certainly on the radar, a short-term free agent signing also might have been in order if Smith was for sure going to retire.
It's worth noting that an undisclosed health issue sidelined Smith during training camp last summer, and ramping back up to football shape caused him to miss the first two games of the season. But he played the remaining 15 games and played fairly well.
All things considered, the Vikings surely have an idea what Smith is going to do and have continued to plan based on it.
Update on the future of Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith kicks off draft week
Smith would surely not be overly keen on participating in voluntary offseason work at this stage of his career, and he'd surely be given a lot of leeway in terms of reporting to or doing a lot of padded work at training camp.
During the most recent episode of the "Access Vikings" podcast, in the context of positions the Vikings seem sure to draft, Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star Tribune dropped a small note about Smith as the draft nears.
"I think safety, safety is a popular target in the first round, with Harrison Smith probably gone", Goessling said.
It's worth noting how Goessling's colleagues and podcast co-hosts Emily Leiker and Andrew Krammer did not seem surprised by him saying Smith is "probably gone."
So maybe it's just known by everyone other than the public and fans right now, and everyone is rightly allowing Smith to make the announcement about his future when he's ready.
On Monday, as the Vikings started the voluntary portion of their offseason program, head coach Kevin O'Connell said it had "been a few days" since he last talked to Smith but would "probably bug him today."
O'Connell added, however, expectedly, that "we're still trying to give Harrison as much space as possible and I think he's earned that."
Per OnSI's Will Ragatz, O'Connell added that Smith's decision is not something the Vikings need to know before the 2026 NFL Draft later this week, and it won't impact their draft process. Reasonable minds can easily disagree with that, but O'Connell would not have said otherwise.
So maybe Smith will make an official announcement about his future very soon, which would lean toward retirement, based on Goessling's recent comments.
Or maybe he waits a little longer, and the chance he decides to play a 15th season continues to linger, even if the current trend seems to say he's calling it quits.
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