Harrison Smith Is Just A Different Type Of Guy
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Most NFL fans and insiders knew the Minnesota Vikings would be one of the most discussed teams in free agency. With Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter considered to be two of the top targets on the market, it was clear the purple we’re going to be talked about. Yet no one imagined after the loss of Kirk that the organization would be the talk of the league. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his front office went on a mini spending spree ending with the acquisition of an additional first round pick. It was nuts.
Lost in the insanity was another chapter in the quietly incredible tale of Harrison Smith. Smith, who most pegged for either retirement or a new team due to his large contract, surprised everyone by agreeing to a contract restructure that gave him one more year with the only organization he has ever known.
Vikings S Harrison Smith is close to an agreement on a restructure of his current contract to remain in Minnesota.
Smith is expected to take a sizable pay cut but wants to stay in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/KjMmaGF5lO
— Vikings Validated (@vikingvalidated) March 14, 2023
The longest tenured Viking by a mile, Smith has shunned the spotlight since the moment he arrived in Minnesota. Happy to simply be great at the sport he loves, all the future Hall Of Famer wants to do is play football. He embodies a no nonsense approach that is rarely celebrated in the day of social media presences and player podcasts. He’s old school but in the way even a new school fan can adore.
His numbers on the field speak for themselves. His resume is one that anyone stepping into the league could only dream of.oBut Smith is more than just numbers. He seems to anybody so many of the things that Minnesotans hold near, and dear to their heart. He’s as hard a worker as you find. He’s humble. And he’s community based. He does what he does as best as he can for his team and then in the off-season he returns to his hometown to work with the same people he has forever in preparation for another campaign. He seems to be what every small town kid in Minnesota would be if they somehow made it to the league. While being from a different state altogether, he seems to embody what it means to be Minnesotan.
It’s not like this was an over the hill veteran situation, where an aging player has no choice but to take a reduction in salary due to performance. It would’ve been easy for Smith to find another suitor that likely would have paid him a higher dollar. Contenders far and wide would love a talent like the veteran safety as they pursue their final pieces in the arms race for 2024. With the Cowboys going all in it’s almost shocking that Smith didn’t wind up in Dallas with his former head coach like Eric Kendricks did. But Smith is the epitome of a team guy.
It surely didn’t hurt the decision making process that Brian Flores reupped as defensive coordinator. As good as Smith was in Mike Zimmer’s scheme, it’s hard not to fantasize about a young, in his prime, Harrison Smith being unleashed by a defensive talent like Brian Flores. The two are a perfect fit.
And surely Smith was likely cued in on the free agency plans. It has to be easier to come back when you know a cavalry of guys meant for Flores’ scheme are on their way. But something tells us even if Flores would’ve left and the team would’ve been inactive in free agency that a restructure still would’ve happened.
In a moment where the fan base is arguing the merits of their former quarterback chasing money Smith did things a different way. That’s just who he is. He started in Minnesota. He built his family and his team here. He is here to see the job through. It seems certain the Vikings will pick Smith’s hopeful future replacement at some point in this year’s draft. Thanks to Smith’s high level play and unselfishness, that player will get the opportunity to grow and learn from one of the best in the game thus putting he and the organization in a better position moving forward.
For Minnesota sake let’s all hope that draft pick is half the player and man that Harrison Smith has been.
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