Has David Harris Played his Final Game as a New York Jet?

[JetNation]

By Glenn Naughton

 

While Woody Johnson, Charlie Casserly and Ron Wolf start their nationwide search for a new General Manager and Head Coach tandem to replace the departed John Idzik and Rex Ryan, any new duo will have a big decision to make regarding long-time linebacker David Harris.

Harris has been a key component of the Jets defense since his arrival in 2007 and during the Jets deep playoff runs during the 2010/2011 seasons. Harris also eclipsed the 1,000 tackle mark this season in week sixteen against the New England Patriots.  While he appears to have lost a step in pass coverage, Harris remains a solid run defender and is considered by many to be a respected figure in the locker room.

Retaining Harris may not be a very popular decision due to his age and the fact that the Jets need to infuse some youth at the linebacker position. However, with so many holes to fill, retaining Harris would add some continuity to a roster that is on the verge of what will likely be a massive personnel overhaul.

Two major factors in Harris’ future with the team will undoubtedly be his price tag, and what defensive scheme is utilized by Rex Ryan’s replacement.   According to overthecap.com, Harris counted for $7 million against the Jets cap this season, but it’s unlikely he would demand a salary in that range again which could make him attractive to the Jets who will be flush with cap space.  As of now, the Jets will have an estimated $40 million to spend this off-season.

Should the Jets stick with a 3-4 defense, Harris’ presence would be more of a need than it will if the Jets transition to a 4-3 defense.  If that is indeed the case, it’s likely the Jets will part ways with Harris and allow fourth year man Demario Davis to slide into the MLB spot and take advantage of his sideline to sideline speed.

So while the future of the Jets hierarchy remains a question mark for the organization, it remains to be seen if they’ll want Harris to be a lifelong Jet, or if they’ll allow him to pursue greener pastures elsewhere.

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[Il Mostro]

Harris always does his job -- stuffing the run.  While he isn't good in coverage, he is still a good downhill LB .  If the price is right, and they play a 3-4 base, he comes back.  If not, he's gone.  He will probably find a home with Rex in ALT.

[TuscanyTile2]

Yes.  I would have to have to think he's going back to Michigan to play for Harbaugh.

[Jetlife33]

Eh, time to change. He's slowing down and will only get worse.

[bergenjets]

Only if it's a team friendly deal.

[Jetdawgg]

We need speed at LB. Great job David Harris over the years.

[BRONX DUDE]

Time to renegotiate a more friendly deal.  He is no longer worth this kind of money.

Great player in his prime.

[Shadetree]

Way too slow.... He's gotta go

[joewilly12]

We need speed at LB. Great job David Harris over the years.

 

 

Time to renegotiate a more friendly deal.  He is no longer worth this kind of money.

Great player in his prime.

Agree and agree

[Jetlife33]

He did record a career high in sacks this year however.

[rillo]

Hopefully he takes a home town discount. 

[JayKwaz]

Move Davis to MLB sign Bruce Carter to play WLB and draft a guy like Ryan from Michigan to play SLB. Of course make the switch to a 43 front.

[stoicsentry]

1,000+ tackles but barely an ounce of respect from fans. Disgraceful.

[RutgersJetFan]

He'll be a Brown next year. See ya, one of the worst Jets contracts ever.

[Ken Schroy]

I think he will be back if we use a 3-4 and he will probably make a little less. But the new GM needs to get some young and fast LBers in camp.

[The Great One]

Big fan of the Hitman but he should be done here. A solid player still but he's slowing down. He can do better in FA than I'd be comfortable resigning him for.

Look for him to land wherever Rex ends up.

[Blackout]

1,000+ tackles but barely an ounce of respect from fans. Disgraceful.

 

sorry David

[Vinny16]

Since we're rebuilding this would probably be a good time to move on from Harris.  He did well here, but it doesn't make sense to include him in the rebuild.  

[RSJ]

Would like to have him back. The whole team looked slow and out of shape. Kind of what happens when you are poorly coached.

[Maxman]

He'll be a Brown next year. See ya, one of the worst Jets contracts ever.

 

How is that one of the worst contracts ever? You can make the case he was over paid but it wasn't like it prevented the Jets from signing anyone else.

 

Neil O'Donnell that was a bad contract. What Bryan Cox got from Parcells, that was a bad contract. Even Bart Scott....all worse contracts imo. There are more, that is just a few off the top of my head.

[Pac]

Harris was rewarded for outperforming his contract his first few years.  He never complained, never held out, and has never been a problem on or off the field.  He was also given that contract in the middle of the Revis fiasco so I'm sure it was a not so subtle message to the team that if you do your job and keep your mouth shut you'll be taken care of.

 

That said, it's time for his salary to be reduced.  Given what we know about him, I'd guess that he might prefer taking a team friendly deal and staying in NY rather than try and try and get every penny he can elsewhere.  If memory serves his wife is an attorney so she might not be thrilled with picking up and moving.

 

Old but good article on Harris...  Exactly the kind of guy you want on your team.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/linebacker-david-harris-tackling-machine-invisible-star-new-york-jets-article-1.192758

 

The search for the real David Harris begins in a karaoke bar 700 miles away, where the quietest Jet recently channeled his inner Jodeci. Singing.

If there's any doubt in your mind....You can count on me.... I'll never let you down.

He had no rhythm. He sounded terrible. But he had a blast.

Two weeks ago, Harris went to his hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., to visit family and friends he's known since he was five years old. While his teammates took exotic vacations during the Jets' bye week, the inside linebacker enjoyed simple moments with the people that mattered the most.

"He plays video games and eats deer sausage that his uncle makes," teammate Bart Scott says. "Yeah, he's a dork."

On a team loaded with bravado, Harris is the invisible star, a tackling machine that blends into the background.

"He doesn't want or need big things," says Darrelle Revis, who was part of the same draft class in 2007. "He's a typical citizen in America."

Harris drives a Chevy Tahoe. "Dependable car," he says.

He lives in a modest four-bedroom house with his wife. "Got friendly neighbors," he says.

"He is boring," Jiali Harris says about her husband, laughing. "We're very simple people. Little things in life make us happy. We don't need all those bells and whistles."

Harris insists that he's not as quiet as people think. He claims he's done some wild stuff in his 26 years, like riding on a zip line in Costa Rica last summer. "Actually, I did it twice," he confesses.

Nothing crazier?

"I've never been streaking," he says.

* * *

The search for the real David Harris means understanding that simplicity isn't synonymous with stupidity.

Harris knows exactly why he was the only member of the Jets' "Core Four" nucleus not to get a new contract this year. He harbors no ill feelings toward teammates D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold and Darrelle Revis for cashing in.

The unsettled NFL labor landscape created inherent hurdles that made it virtually impossible to get an extension for the one-time second-round pick. The Jets would have had to dole out 90%-95% of a long-term deal right now for it to work.

"No GM is going to do that nowadays," says Harris, who's in the final year of his four-year rookie contract. "So I understood where they were coming from…. Every NFL player wants to get that big deal. But everybody gets it at different times in different ways. It's not my time yet."

He came to peace with it and didn't miss a day of work.

"He deserves a new contract as much as anyone in this locker room," safety Jim Leonhard says. "But he never said a word. That's Dave. He's not going to make a scene."

GM Mike Tannenbaum put Harris at the top of the list for an extension after a new collective bargaining agreement is reached.

"At the end of the day," Harris says, "you could have a billion dollars and still not be happy."

* * *

The search for the real David Harris takes you inside the film room, where the linebacker routinely puts on a clinic. Never flashy, Harris earned second-team All-Pro honors last season after recording a team-high 142 tackles, 5 1/2 sacks and two interceptions for the league's top-ranked defense. He leads the Jets with 49 tackles through six games this season.

Harris' steadiness is a perfect complement to Scott's emotionally charged on-field presence.

"He does a great job of controlling his emotions," defensive coordinator Mike Pettine says. "You need guys like that. His demeanor has a calming influence on the rest of the huddle."

Despite Harris' versatility, he often gets overlooked by his peers. Bengals running back Cedric Benson quipped before last year's AFC wild-card game that he had never heard of Harris. "I don't even really know who that is," Benson said before the Jets beat the Bengals.

"Just look at the name," Pettine says. "David Harris. Even that is simple."

* * *

The search for the real David Harris ends in a familiar neighborhood.

Before the bye week was over, Harris sat around a bonfire in Grand Rapids with friends that he's had for 20 years. They all grew up within a two-block radius, lifelong buddies, who, as kids, played everything together from tag to tackle football.

Harris enjoyed the break from his job, flashing a sense of humor that only his closest friends get a chance to see. "He's very goofy," Jiali says.

No matter what he accomplishes in his career, no matter how big he becomes, Harris always comes back to visit the people that helped shape him. He's proud to call Derrin Davis, a factory worker, his closest friend in life. "He moved across the street from me in 1989," the linebacker says with a smile.

Simplicity doesn't define the real David Harris.

Loyalty does.

[Shadetree]

Cool article... He was a good ILB....wasn't a piece of sh*t off the field.

Cheers.

Now we need SEC, not Big 10.

[Jetsfan80]

Kinda need a GM and HC in place to know for sure what direction we go in with any individual player.  But its hard to see Harris fitting ANY scheme at this point.  He's a standup guy but he's a dinosaur in today's NFL.  Sending him to wherever Rex ends up would be sweet.  Let him be Rex's new Bart Scott.

[DaBallhawk]

Time to renegotiate a more friendly deal. He is no longer worth this kind of money.

Great player in his prime.

Pretty much. Coaches love those kind of guys they can count on. Harris is smart, EXTREMELY experienced, respected, very productive, a great leader and an every down player. He should definitely be brought back but his salary has to be adjusted. Unfortunately some other team might outbid us. Think Atlanta if Rex ends up there.

[j4jets]

I like him as a good team leader. But the problem is, he's slow and is one of the reason why we can't cover TEs. If he's willing to take about $5m max, I'd be ok with it. He may be looking at 7-8 mil per, which would be too much for him.

 

Thing is, we are not in a cap strapped year. But this is exactly the kind of year that can put in him cap trouble in the future years if we don't spend wisely.

[Jetster]

Love Harris, but 2 down LBs are passé in the passing fancy NFL.

Brady always picked on him, (didn't work out in 2010 playoffs) but OMG the Pats abused him for the most part.

Look at the difference in New England when Mayo went down & the young fast kid Collins got all the snaps.

We need to speed the LBs.

[DaBallhawk]

Love Harris, but 2 down LBs are passé in the passing fancy NFL.

Brady always picked on him, (didn't work out in 2010 playoffs) but OMG the Pats abused him for the most part.

Look at the difference in New England when Mayo went down & the young fast kid Collins got all the snaps.

We need to speed the LBs.

 

Speed doesn't mean anything. DD is fast but he couldn't cover a turtle. Harris is plenty fast but to expect him to cover a Gronkowski or anybody Brady is throwing the ball to for that matter is ridiculous. He's had his struggles, but he also did good at times in coverage. He's no worse than most MLB's I'd say. But we also realize he's not getting any better at it now at 30. He's peaked. He might have like 2 years left as an every down linebacker. For the right price I'd bring him back. But somebody like the Saints or Rams or Titans will probably overpay him and offer him the same type of dough he currently makes in his prime.

[Jetdawgg]

1,000+ tackles but barely an ounce of respect from fans. Disgraceful.

I think most Jets fans respect Davd Harris. He does have a big salary and I feel that he has earned it. The Jets are rebuilding and he deserves a chance for a SB ring. He may have had a better year in 2014, the Jets cannot continue to hold on to slower, aging players where speed is a premium. Imo the Jets kept Pace 1 year too long. Of the Jets 5 primary LB's only DD has speed.

[Jetdawgg]

Speed doesn't mean anything. DD is fast but he couldn't cover a turtle. Harris is plenty fast but to expect him to cover a Gronkowski or anybody Brady is throwing the ball to for that matter is ridiculous. He's had his struggles, but he also did good at times in coverage. He's no worse than most MLB's I'd say. But we also realize he's not getting any better at it now at 30. He's peaked. He might have like 2 years left as an every down linebacker. For the right price I'd bring him back. But somebody like the Saints or Rams or Titans will probably overpay him and offer him the same type of dough he currently makes in his prime.

Speed does mean something at LB. Didn't DD catch one of the fastest WR's in the league in game 1 of 2013? Most LB's can't cover. They tackle. Time to move on.

[32EBoozer]

Love Harris, but 2 down LBs are passé in the passing fancy NFL.

Brady always picked on him, (didn't work out in 2010 playoffs) but OMG the Pats abused him for the most part.

Look at the difference in New England when Mayo went down & the young fast kid Collins got all the snaps.

We need to speed the LBs.

Still remember that interception of Brady... Took him 5 minutes to run 40 yards before being caught by a 34 year old, 280 lb. Alge Crumpler at the 4 yard line... of course we can't punch it in.

 

Appreciate all he has done... solid pro. However it is time to remake this defense to be built around speed and anger.

 

Goodbye, David

[DaBallhawk]

Speed does mean something at LB. Didn't DD catch one of the fastest WR's in the league in game 1 of 2013? Most LB's can't cover. They tackle. Time to move on.

 

That's the only thing DD is good for. Hunt people down. He's all muscle, no brains. Harris is kind of the opposite. Once the ball is snapped it's all about experience, reading the offense, reading routes, that's when guys that study offenses really do well. And that's what Harris is good at. He knows the game, he doesn't blow any coverages, he's just where he's supposed to be. He has his limitations physically and he will give up catches because he just can't hang with athletic tight ends for more than a dozen steps or so but not many linebackers can. DD could technically hang with them but a) he's too short to cover TE's and he's clueless in coverage. He can't read offenses, he can't read routes, he's got ZERO instincts. Same goes for his run defense. He can't read blockers, he can't read anything. He runs into traffic all the time, he's not cutting guys off to force runs back inside/outside. Once he sees the ball carrier and he's allowed to run sideline to sideline without anybody bothering him, that's when he's at his best. Just running and tackling, that's what he's decent at. He just lacks the mental part. So...apples and oranges. Like I said, speed doesn't mean anything. Go look around the league. Sean Lee is probably the best cover linebacker in the league and he's pretty slow, I think he ran a 4.7 or 4.8. Lavonte David is one of the better cover linebackers in the league, he ran a 4.6 or 4.7. Karlos Dansby is old as hell, he can cover well. Derrick Johnson. Navorro Bowman, Posluszny. They're all slow. It's not about 40 yard dash. At all.

[Jetdawgg]

It is not like we won a SB with Harris. Winning a SB should be the goal each season.

[Jetdawgg]

That's the only thing DD is good for. Hunt people down. He's all muscle, no brains. Harris is kind of the opposite. Once the ball is snapped it's all about experience, reading the offense, reading routes, that's when guys that study offenses really do well. And that's what Harris is good at. He knows the game, he doesn't blow any coverages, he's just where he's supposed to be. He has his limitations physically and he will give up catches because he just can't hang with athletic tight ends for more than a dozen steps or so but not many linebackers can. DD could technically hang with them but a) he's too short to cover TE's and he's clueless in coverage. He can't read offenses, he can't read routes, he's got ZERO instincts. Same goes for his run defense. He can't read blockers, he can't read anything. He runs into traffic all the time, he's not cutting guys off to force runs back inside/outside. Once he sees the ball carrier and he's allowed to run sideline to sideline without anybody bothering him, that's when he's at his best. Just running and tackling, that's what he's decent at. He just lacks the mental part. So...apples and oranges. Like I said, speed doesn't mean anything. Go look around the league. Sean Lee is probably the best cover linebacker in the league and he's pretty slow, I think he ran a 4.7 or 4.8. Lavonte David is one of the better cover linebackers in the league, he ran a 4.6 or 4.7. Karlos Dansby is old as hell, he can cover well. Derrick Johnson. Navorro Bowman, Posluszny. They're all slow. It's not about 40 yard dash. At all.

Where is the SB with Harris? Time to move on. Speed is the element that covers deficiencies in other areas of the game.

[DaBallhawk]

Where is the SB with Harris? Time to move on. Speed is the element that covers deficiencies in other areas of the game.

 

Well, you need guys like that. You can't have eleven 23 year old athletes in your starting lineup. Besides, who do you replace him with? Look for a replacement first, the options you have, before you decide to get rid of somebody. We already made that mistake when we let Cro walk...to replace him with a worse and more injury prone player for basically the same money. You're not gonna find an experienced linebacker that doesn't make a whole lot of money who can also cover well and lead your defense, call the plays, get everybody lined up etc.

 

But I agree, if he doesn't take a hometown discount let him walk and replace him with a similar guy who isn't as proven. They'll come in cheap. If Rex ends up in Atlanta I think he overpays for Harris.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

Old, slow, and it's over.