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Damon Harrison, we hardly knew ye. Good for him, landing that kind of money after starting his NFL career as a practice squad player . . .
I probably don’t need to say much about Harrison signing with the Giants.
I’ve already written so much about his impending free agency, and how the Jets shouldn’t break the bank.
The Giants essentially gave him a three-year deal for $30 million with $24 million guaranteed.
That would qualify as breaking the bank.
Good for Harrison. He bucked the odds making in the NFL has an undrafted free agent out of NAIA William Penn. He worked very hard to make himself into a very good NFL nose tackle.
I think he will do well with the Giants, and he won’t have to move.
But there is no way it made any sense for the Jets to give him that kind of money.
As I’ve mentioned many times, there is no doubt he’s a good player, but there is also no doubt playing between defensive ends like Mo Wilkerson, Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams created favorable one-on-one blocking match-ups for him, and to his credit, he often took advantage of them.
The Jets can get a reasonably-priced nose tackle who can do a solid job for them between their talented ends. And they aren’t going to have to spend anywhere near $24 million guaranteed.
A perfect example is Terrence ‘Pot Roast” Knighton, who played for the Washington Redskins last year. He’s a massive run-stuffer who has quick feet and does a nice job of taking up double teams.
He played last year on a one-year deal for 4.4 million. He’s probably going to get a similar deal this year in free agency. He went to Temple, so that would create a bond with Todd Bowles in the recruiting process. He’s also from Connecticut, so he would be playing close to home.
How does a one-year deal for around $4 million for Knighton compared to $24 million guaranteed for Harrison sound?
Sounds like a better plan to me.
And they have Deon Simon, a seventh round pick last year out of Northwestern State in Louisiana.
NFL Network’s Charlie Casserly said today, “He’s Damon Harrison.”
If Casserly feels that way, you know that is coming from Mike Maccagnan. Casserly and Maccagnan are close. Mike worked for Charlie in Washington and Houston. And you know darn well that Casserly isn’t sitting around looking at Deon Simon tape from Northwestern State.
I have to admit, I didn’t see that comparison watching Simon last summer. I was surprised he made the team coming out of camp. I viewed it as draft pick favoritism. He had a nondescript summer, and had practice squad written all over him. That is where he was eventually moved in October.
Don’t get me wrong. I think the kid has a lot of potential and is strong as an ox, but he was so raw last summer, it was hard to see the Harrison comparison. He often played with his pad level too high.
We will see what’s he’s got this summer. He could take a big leap in Year Two.
But the bottom line is the Jets should be able to get by with a free agent nose tackle, and perhaps Simon’s potential improvement in Year Two.
March 9, 2016
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