Philadelphia Eagles: 3 things to know about newly signed S Anthony Harris
By David Esser
Making their first “splash” addition of the offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles were able to land former Vikings safety Anthony Harris on a one-year deal worth $5 million. It was a surprising acquisition to say the least, as spotrac.com actually had Harris’ value set at $14 million per year.
Following the injury to Rodney McLeod and the departure of Jalen Mills, safety quickly became an area of weakness for the Eagles this offseason. Talent and scheme fit aside for the moment, simply bringing in a veteran like Harris to eat up snaps makes a ton of sense.
The Philadelphia Eagles have themselves a new starting safety.
Free agent signings are never a sure thing in this league, and Harris definitely had a rough go of things in 2020, but the 29 year old DB brings quite a bit to the table for Philadelphia moving forward:
He’s a ballhawk.
Whether due to on-field talent or Jim Schwartz’ “bend don’t break” defensive scheme, the Philadelphia Eagles’ secondary was downright atrocious in terms of generating turnovers last season. They only recorded five interceptions and four forced fumbles, with Darius Slay logging just one pick on the season.
In Anthony Harris, the Eagles should instantly receive a boost in said department.
Harris recorded three interceptions in 2018 when he first started getting significant reps on defense, and then led the league in INTs (six) the following season upon being named an everyday starter for the Vikings. Harris was a force for Minnesota as their main coverage safety, which is something the Eagles really haven’t had in quite some time.
Harris didn’t record any interceptions this past season as the Vikings defense completely fell off, but the hope is that he’ll re-find at least some of his previous 2019 form moving forward. Even just 3-4 interceptions would likely lead the Eagles defense next season.
(More on the effect that Harris can have on the Eagles’ turnover generation here.)