March 18, 2022
The Philadelphia Eagles are re-signing safety Anthony Harris, according to a report from Zach Berman of The Athletic.
The Eagles agreed to terms on a one-year deal with safety Anthony Harris, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) March 18, 2022
Harris, 30, started 14 games for the Eagles last season and is back for another year in Jonathan Gannon’s defense.
Harris was an undrafted free agent of the Vikings out of Virginia who worked his way into Minnesota's starting lineup. Prior to his time in Philly, he had played in 81 games, starting 47. In 2019, Harris picked off six passes, which was good for a share of the league lead. He added a seventh pick in the postseason, victimizing Drew Brees.
The Vikings franchise tagged Harris during the 2020 offseason, and he made $11,441,000 that season. In 2020, Harris had something of a down season, he became a free agent in 2021, and a strong market for his services did not develop. As a result, the Eagles were able to land him at the reasonable cost of $4 million on a one-year deal.
Jonathan Gannon was the Vikings' assistant defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2017. He overlapped with Harris from 2015 to 2017, so the Harris signing made sense last offseason as something of a "training wheels" player in Gannon's defense. In his lone season in Philly, Harris played in 14 games, collecting 72 tackles, 1 INT, and 3 pass breakups.
It was expected that if the Eagles would re-sign one of the 2021 starting safeties, it would be Rodney McLeod, not Harris, making this re-signing something of a mild surprise. To be determined if the Eagles will re-sign McLeod as well after the free agent safety market was more expensive than anticipated.
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