The Hidden Benefits of the Harrison Phillips Extension
Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Vikings and defensive lineman Harrison Phillips reached an agreement on a two-year, $19 million contract extension. Phillips initially signed a three-year deal with the Vikings in 2022 as the direct replacement for Michael Pierce, who had proved unable to fill the void following the team moving on from longtime defensive tackle Linval Joseph after the 2019 season. Since his arrival, Phillips has been an iron man, starting in every game and playing more than half of Minnesota’s defensive snaps.
Over these past 35 games, Phillips has amassed 156 tackles and 5.5 sacks, functioning as the anchor of the Vikings’ defense line during Kevin O’Connell’s tenure as head coach. This new deal provides the 28-year-old Phillips with $13 million in guaranteed money and keeps him under contract through the 2026 season. Securing the above-average defensive tackle at roughly $9 million AAV is a steal for Minnesota.
For comparison, Phillips will have the same average annual salary as nose tackles like the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Larry Ogunjobi, the New England Patriots’ Davon Godchaux, and the Denver Broncos’ D.J. Jones. In 2023, Phillips had a higher overall PFF grade (59.7) than all of those players, and he led the NFL in run-stop rate last season. Deals like this prove what a great negotiator Kwesi Adofo-Mensah really is. Even more exciting is the fact that there are hidden benefits of this extension, which should only make it even better over time.
To understand how Minnesota can get even more value out of Phillips’ contract, we must first introduce a new player who could slowly emerge as a key contributor on the defensive line. Undrafted free agent Taki Taimani shined throughout the preseason for the Vikings, posting a team-high 89.3 PFF grade through three games and being the highest-graded rookie DT in the NFL preseason by a wide margin. Taimani made the 53-man roster despite being a backup for a guy who always plays a ton of snaps and never misses games.
Taki Taimani Preaseason Highlights!!!
Awesome performance to make the team. pic.twitter.com/wabHnTEoMB
— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) August 28, 2024
It may take some time to establish himself, given that he’s a rookie who needs to earn the trust of the coaching staff, but it wouldn’t be shocking to see Taimani’s snap count steadily increase as the season progresses. In 2023, Phillips’ snap percentage was 74.2%, which was the most of any defensive lineman on the team by far. For context, Jonathan Bullard had the second-highest snap percentage and only played 56.9% of all defensive snaps. If the Vikings want Phillips to be the best version of himself, they’d do well to distribute the workload more evenly.
One way of doing that would be to start Taimani at nose tackle and have Phillips play more snaps as a 3-4 defensive end. Although Phillips is best known as a run-stopper, he’s pretty underrated as a pass-rushing threat at defensive tackle. In last Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, the veteran lineman sacked Daniel Jones and batted down a pass intended for Wan’Dale Robinson. While he’s certainly not on the same level as Jeffrey Simmons, Phillips has enough juice to be a defensive end in this system.
Harrison Phillips loops on the stunt and gets his hands up for the batted pass.
Dallas Turner in coverage — I think he reads this well and might drive in time to break up the pass if it wasn't batted. pic.twitter.com/P8HdZXkwEB
— Matt Fries (@FriesFootball) September 11, 2024
Having Phillips play more snaps at defensive end would accomplish two things. First, it would allow the Vikings to start a talented young nose tackle in Taimani at his natural position, which would bolster the team’s run defense ahead of their matchup against a San Francisco 49ers squad that loves their ground attack. More importantly, moving Phillips to defensive end would strengthen Minnesota’s defensive line rotation with Bullard, Jerry Tillery, Levi Drake-Rodriguez, and Jalen Redmond all competing for playing time at one spot as opposed to two.
And if Phillips starts at 3-4 defensive end on 50% of his snaps, while performing well, then they’d essentially be paying nose tackle money to an above-average and versatile defensive end, who would have been able to command more had he waited until free agency to sign a new deal. The brilliance of this extension lies in the fact that the Vikings were already underpaying Phillips, and now Brian Flores has run-stuffers that can allow him to start using Phillips in ways Minnesota couldn’t last season. If Flores can get Taimani up to speed for a regular role, the Vikings will be in a position to more value than ever out of the newly-extended Phillips.
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