Linebacker James Harrison is waiting until after the draft to sign with a team, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Of course, that’s probably not by Harrison’s choice. At this stage of his career, he is no longer a top priority for clubs. 
Harrison’s top priority is finding a situation in which he can see significant time on the field, Fowler hears. That all but rules out a return to the Steelers, but the Patriots have been one of a handful of teams to inquire on him over the last month.
To the surprise of many in the football world, the Steelers released Harrison in December. He quickly hooked on with the Patriots and proved to be effective in his short stint with them in one regular season game and three playoff contests. Still, Harrison will turn 40 in May, which will limit his market.
Harrison left the Steelers as their all-time sack leader with 80.5 and earned defensive player of the year acclaim in 2008. That season ended with Pittsburgh’s sixth Super Bowl title, one Harrison helped cement with his 100-yard interception return in Super Bowl XLIII.
I don’t think any team will be able to offer Harrison more than 200 snaps a season at this point in his career. The Steelers should do the right thing and at least offer him a position on their coaching staff while he awaits induction into Canton.
As a Steelers fan, I think doing the right thing is keeping him away from the team. The locker room seemed perfectly fine with him being gone, even surprisingly so. With that in mind, the image above brings a smile to my face.
Should do the right thing and offer him a coaching position? Are you serious?!?!? This is the guy whose teammates said he begged to be released, slept through film sessions, snored while his position coach spoke (Joey Porter), and never offered a single instance of support to his teammates off the field. Why on Earth would this guy be a candidate to coach a team that he was a cancer?
And why on earth would he want to go back to such a place that lied when they promised him playing time only to have him ride the bench. Funny how in NE he proved he still had the ability to make an impact in this league.
Don’t disagree with you that he wouldn’t want to go back to Pittsburgh. It’s a mutual feeling at this point.
I don’t know if anyone really promised him playing time or not. If they did, it was when he resigned which was before the draft. In the draft, they got an early 20’s OLB with a blue chip pedigree. Every team in the league will take Watt over Harrison.
You want to say he could make an impact in this league based on a 4 game sample! A guy who didn’t play 99% of the year till those 4 games. Give him the same snap count over 16 games and see what you get. YOU should be thankful he didn’t play in Pittsburgh and had gas in his tank.
Of all players in the NFL nobody should ever question his drive, determination and effort. It’s how he survived in this league so long. Also, those games he did play in NE were playoff games, against the best teams and most on the line.
So the teammates that cowardly waited until Harrison was in New England before bad mouthing him aren’t a cancer…James is. Thanks for clearing that up.
If Harrisons’s teammates spoke up to the media prior to his leaving, they would have been looked upon as throwing Harrison under the bus. It was not like they ran to the first reporter they saw and spilled their guts to them about Harrison. They were being asked about missing him since he was gone and that is when the stuff came out about Harrison not being a great teammate. The really did not say a whole lot other than to say he really was not missed much.