Could Percy Harvin Fit With the New England Patriots?
Well, free agency is totally more fun than talking about air pressure in footballs, am I right?
Pro Football Talk’s report today from insider and Gronk-shouldn’t-be-drinking-in-public-finger-wagger Mike Florio brought us up to speed on the Percy Harvin situation in the Big Apple:
“Keeping Harvin around under his current contract means paying him $10.5 million for 2015. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Jets and Harvin’s agent will be talking soon, with the goal of working out a revised arrangement.”
“If that revised arrangement entails Harvin taking less than $10.5 million in cash this year, look for Harvin to reject it. At most, Harvin likely would agree to converting the vast majority of the salary to a signing bonus, allowing the cap hit to be spread over multiple years and reduced in 2015.”
“While the Jets don’t need to do this, based on a projected cap bulge of more than $50 million even with Harvin’s $10.5 million on the books, it’s a way to make more money available for other players, such as, for example, a possible run at a reunion with Darrelle Revis.”
(It’s OK if you threw up in your mouth a little bit about the Darrelle Revis thing)
Florio goes on:
“If the Jets and Harvin can’t reach a deal, watch these three teams closely: the Chargers, Packers, and Patriots. With any of those, Harvin could do a one-year deal, partner with one of the best quarterbacks in the game, have a huge year, chase a championship, and set himself up for a bigger contract in 2016.”
“The most intriguing team is the one we’ve mentioned multiple times in recent weeks on PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio and Pro Football Talk on NBCSN: The Patriots. As PFT reported back in October, the Seahawks didn’t contact the Patriots about a possible trade for Harvin before dumping him on the Jets. So it’s unknown whether the Patriots would have been interested in adding Harvin to a receiving corps that could use a guy who can stretch the field.”
And, because some folks think that fantasy football and real football are the same thing, to a lot of Patriots Nation, this will sound like an amazing possibility. Sign him! Give him whatever he wants! Shut up and take my money!
Here’s what will happen: the Patriots will “express interest” in Percy Harvin (after the Jets presumably cut him), and they’ll probably bring him in for a visit and a workout.
Because they do that with everybody.
But for the kind of cash that Harvin is more than likely going to be looking for, the ex-Viking/ex-Seahawk/ex-Jet isn’t going to be worth it for New England, especially with his hothead tendencies that go all the way back to his Florida Gators days. Does an expensive, frequently injured “offensive weapon” with an ego that can’t fit through the door sound like something the Pats will invest in?
The bigger roadblock to a Percy Harvin deal is, quite simply, dollars and cents. New England made a young team Super Bowl champions this year, and with the rookie wage scale being what it is, here’s a list of who might need a new contract or extension within the next two years:
-CB Darrelle Revis (in case you’ve been living in a basement)
-FS Devin McCourty
-RB Shane Vereen
-RB Stevan Ridley
-DE Chandler Jones
-LB Dont’a Hightower
The Patriots’ current logjam at receiver – which is a great problem to have – won’t make Percy Harvin any more enticing unless Danny Amendola gets cut (which makes no financial sense), traded, or restructures his deal. Amendola restructuring his contract is far more likely, since he’s certainly not putting out the production a lot of people expected, even though he’s definitely had his moments in the sun.
This year’s draft class is also stacked with wide receiver talent throughout the first two days, and all Harvin has really proven so far is that he can do some cool things when he’s in a good mood and he’s not on the injury list.
Second chances are great and all, but Percy Harvin’s fourth chance (MN/SEA/NYJ/???) isn’t happening in New England.