Vikings safety Anthony Harris will play out his one-year tender, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero (on Twitter). The sides are still talking, but the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson notes a deal is a “long shot” as the deadline nears (Twitter link). Per the franchise tag rules, the two sides will have to wait until next year before resuming extension talks. 

Harris took his time, but he eventually signed his one-year, $11.4MM tag. There was never a real threat of a holdout, though Harris was eager for a pay bump.

The advanced metrics position Harris as one of the league’s very best safeties and the market has advanced significantly in recent years. He graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1-ranked safety last season, a campaign during which he intercepted six passes. A long-term extension for Harris would likely pay him upwards of $14MM per year, in line with the position’s salary leaders.

Minnesota will carry Harris’ lofty tag figure and Harrison Smith‘s $10.75MM cap number on its books this season. With Smith remaining the centerpiece of the Vikings’ secondary, it seems likely the Vikings will need to address his deal — which has fallen from first to 11th over the past four years. It remains to be seen if the Vikings will revisit extension talks with Harris next year. This will be the breakout performer turned 29 in June, so his next negotiations — with the Vikings or another team — will come just ahead of his age-30 slate.

Done deal. On Sunday, Vikings safety Anthony Harris announced that he will sign his franchise tender (Twitter link). 

“Although it has been a strange offseason, time spent in isolation with family has been refreshing and energizing. This is just one step in god’s plan for me and my family,” Harris wrote. “I will let my agents and the Vikings work towards long term certainty in Minnesota, but I am excited to be back for the 2020 season.”

Harris, 29 in June, tallied 60 tackles and eleven passes defended in 2019, plus six interceptions (tied for the NFL lead). Beyond that, the advanced metrics have positioned him as one of the league’s best safeties over the last two years. He’s now hoping to parlay that success into a major payday for the remainder of his prime seasons.

The franchise tag for safeties this year pays $11.4MM. That’s not chump change, but there are now five safeties in the league making upwards of $14MM per season. Naturally, that’s what Harris and his reps are eyeing in a new contract.

The Vikings have been keen on keeping their brightest stars. They’ve also overhauled their secondary this offseason, moving on from cornerbacks Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander, plus safeties Jayron Kearse and Andrew Sendejo. Still, the Vikings have rejected trade inquiries on Harris, kept him with the tag, and backed him publicly.

“I know we have some big changes in the secondary,” Spielman said earlier this year. “One of the things — not only is Anthony Harris a great football player for us, and great in the community — but by us being able to franchise Anthony, we do have the safeties pretty well set, knowing that we’re going to have a lot of young corners we’re going to have to line up and play with.”

Per the terms of the franchise tag, the two sides have until the July deadline to hammer out an extension. If no deal is reached by then, they’ll have to wait until after the 2020 season to resume talks.

Anthony Harris is in “no rush” to sign franchise tag, according to a source who spoke with Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press (on Twitter). The Vikings and the safety have until July 15th to hammer out an extension, and Harris is gunning for long-term security. Tomasson hears that some talks could take place before the draft gets underway on Thursday night, but it’s unlikely that anything will be hashed out soon.

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Harris, 28, was tagged back in March, but many figured that he would be a tag-and-trade candidate. That still remains a possibility, but GM Rick Spielman claims Harris is very much in their plans for 2020.

“I know we have some big changes in the secondary,” Spielman said this week, referencing the departures of Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander. “One of the things — not only is Anthony Harris a great football player for us, and great in the community — but by us being able to franchise Anthony, we do have the safeties pretty well set, knowing that we’re going to have a lot of young corners we’re going to have to line up and play with.”

Either way, safety is on the Vikings’ to-do list this weekend, because they need to find support for Harris and Harrison Smith.

According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, Harris has been a top-five safety in each of the last two seasons, including exceptional coverage grades last year. Between 2018 and 2019, he’s totaled nine interceptions, 17 passes defended, and 106 tackles.

Linked to being a tag-and-trade candidate early in free agency, Anthony Harris now appears likelier than not to suit up for the Vikings again. The expectation is for the franchise-tagged safety to play in Minnesota in 2020, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

The Vikings had dangled Harris in trades for a return as low as a late-round pick, but Tomasson notes they are now discussing an extension for the breakout defender. Harris would welcome a Minnesota re-up but wants to be one of the league’s highest-paid safeties, Tomasson adds.

Minnesota already employs one of the NFL’s highest-paid players at this position, with Harrison Smith still tied to the five-year, $51.25MM deal he signed in 2016. Devoting extensive cap space to two safeties is out of the ordinary, but Tomasson notes the Vikings now view keeping Harris as key for its defense’s success.

While the Vikings have valued continuity, building their defensive core for years through pricey extensions, they have seen many pieces of its defense stripped away this month. They released Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph and will not re-sign Everson Griffen. Minnesota also is starting over at corner, having seen Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander defect to Cincinnati. Safeties Jayron Kearse and Andrew Sendejo also left for Detroit and Cleveland, respectively. Keeping Harris may be more important now than it was at free agency’s outset.

Pro Football Focus graded Harris as one of the NFL’s best safeties over the past two years. He will turn 29 this summer, making his next contract critical for his earning potential. The 2020 safety tag is worth $11.4MM, but five safeties now earn north of $14MM per year. It is also possible a new Harris deal would prompt Smith to seek a raise, given his 5-0 Pro Bowl edge on his safety sidekick, but nothing is known on that front yet.