Jets Re-Sign David Harris

Despite reportedly being a top target for Rex Ryan‘s new team in Buffalo, linebacker David Harris will stick with Ryan’s old team in New York. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports (Twitter links) that Harris and the Jets have reached an agreement on a three-year, $21.5MM contract that includes $15MM in fully guaranteed money.

Harris, who has spent his entire career with the Jets, played out a four-year, $36MM contract with the team and would have reached the open market next Tuesday if the club hadn’t worked out an agreement to keep him in the fold.

While an annual salary worth around $7MM isn’t exorbitant for the veteran linebacker, even as he enters his age-31 season, the fully guaranteed $15MM is a surprise. New GM Mike Maccagnan and the Jets front office may have been spurred to action by reports of Harris drawing interest from the Bills and others, along with the fact that he headed a fairly weak free agent class of linebackers.

Harris has played – and started – every single one of the Jets’ regular season games over the last six seasons, averaging about 114 tackles per year over that stretch. In 2014, he racked up 124 tackles, recorded 5.5 sacks, and forced a pair of fumbles. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rated his performance as about middle-of-the-pack for inside linebackers, ranking him 29th of 60 qualified players.

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