The New Orleans Saints agreed to terms with former Detroit Lions safety Will Harris, adding more experience to their secondary. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports that it’s a one-year deal.
Harris, 28, studied at Boston College before being selected by the Lions inn the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. He’s spent the last five years in Detroit while starting 40 of 81 games (plus three playoff games). He was credited with 93 combined tackles in 2021, a personal-best.
While Harris has ample experience at free safety, he’s logged more snaps covering the slot and running with the kicking units on special teams. He’s worn a lot of hats in Aaron Glenn’s defense while taking snaps outside at cornerback, in the box at safety, or even up at the line of scrimmage as a linebacker.
He played a career-high 357 snaps on special teams last season which may give us an idea of what role the Saints have in mind. Harris is probably a comparable player to veteran safety Johnathan Abram who could start games in a pinch, but he’s at his best reinforcing other positions and helping to cover punts and kickoffs in the game’s third phase. The Saints’ 90-man roster is at capacity after the NFL draft, so they’ll have to release another player in ia corresponding move to pick up Harris.
