Packers Set To Release Al Harris

Harris is the kind of player with a damn good attitude for young players to look up to. Very professional guy. Hell of a player when he was healthy.

And they may not even have to put in a waiver claim. I’d IR Lee or, gosh, I don’t know, cut our 3rd FB to Keep Harris around. The balance of his salary isn’t that bad. MN needs DBs who can cover and Al always has been able to do that, as long as you don’t ask him to play zone.

The Seahawks will sign him. If for no other reason than because their manager doesn’t seem to have any talent for scouting anyone himself.

I’m really sorry to see Al go. I really hoped his injury wasn’t so serious that it would have cost him his spot on the Green Bay roster. It would have been good to see him suited up in Green and Gold and on the field at least one last time.

Just read McCarthy’s presser transcripts and it doesn’t seem the rehab process was as important as what the team would look like going forward. My guess is that they simply want to build what they have for the future and let the current season play itself out with what they have.

Personally, I think they could have rotated him in at different positions in the secondary to provide enough different looks that it might have forced teams to look short, but the truth is that I’m not really unhappy at all with how the defense has been playing and… well, maybe Al really wants to be able to start somewhere instead of a slow work back as a bit player. Make an impact before he decides himself to retire.

Very very underrated point. Clearly Shields is really starting to come into his own and the D is playing out of its MIND. We kinda eluded to this last night in the game threads so I guess I am not shocked though its a little sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzpowxGfVFE

were somewhat of an inspiration. It was a great insight into the guys personality – his strengh of character, his determination, positive outlook on life, etc. I was almost convinced he was going to come back stonger than ever given how hard he worked.

It’s inevitable, I guess, that all things must pass. Al is/was a great pro. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his abilities. I hope he latches on somewhere (out of the division).

As has been pointed out, ultimately this one came down to a numbers game. And with the defense playing as well as it has, and his age, it just doesn’t add up. Still, we’re one injury away from needing a guy like that…..

Obviously he is. We haven’t seen him play so who knows what he has in him. My guess is that he wasn’t playing well at all. At some point you have to look at skill, not the name.

TT only cuts the veterans in favor of the young guys if those young guys are ready to take over that role. Thus being why DD and Charles Woodson, 2 aging veterans, received contract extensions. Although we have depth at both positions, we don’t know if any of the backups can step up and produce the same way they can. Harris was indeed expendable because he didn’t play well last year and is coming off a serious injury. I wish him the best of luck in the future and hope he finds a spot on another team elsewhere this year (just not Minnesota). : )

Harris would be a terrible fit at Safety. No way that happens here or anywhere else. He’s too slow and it takes him from his strengths, which is his physical play at the line of scrimmage at the CB position.

You don’t just move a corner to safety cause he’s too slow to be a safety. Its a totally different skill set. Its a skill set that Woodson has but Harris doesn’t. Harris excelled in the bump with safety help at times over the top. He doesn’t have anything close to the right skill set to play safety.

I would be shocked if he doesn’t make it. He played at the top of his game for most of his career here and made some important plays for us. In fact today I promised my wife that when he is inducted we would find a way to get tickets to that event.

I like that idea. A DB coach with dreads would be respected by our many-dreaded DBs.

i almost blame him as much as favre for the loss to the giants in the nfc championship game in 08..plaxico destroyed him

as a leader/mentor to the rest of the secondary?

He really tore his knee up last year. I’m of the mind that TT wouldn’t have released Harris if he was anywhere close to his former self. My gut tells me he wouldn’t be a viable nickel back for you.

It depends on what kind of scheme you run as well. If you guys are bump-and-run heavy, it could be a possibility. If you play more zone coverage, I’d say he won’t be successful for your team.

On how his knee is doing. It was destroyed. The pack would probably have kept him if he could have played nickle. He’s a leader for sure if that’s what your looking for, but most leaders need to be on the field to lead. He was a solid bump and run cover corner. He’s lost a lot of his speed in recent years and he hasn’t taken a snap in almost a year.

hmm…maybe its a chance worth taking but I really don’t see him being much of a force. If someone brings him in expecting him to shore up a secondary I think they’ll be disappointed. I hpe I am wrong cause I like Harris and would like to see him leave on his own terms but I really think at this point he probably doesn’t have much left.

Give that man a rec’d!!!

The money they saved by releasing Harris doesn’t begin to offset what Williams will get.

He wasn’t as good as he was previously, but he wasn’t done. He’d be a nice guy to have if one of our top 3 corners get hurt, is all I’m saying. And a good guy to have in the locker room. I’m sure he was frustrated, but it’s not like he was poisoning the locker room from anything I’ve heard.

but again, it goes back to how healthy Al is. You said a consistent team needs 3 CB’s….we HAVE 3 CB’s that are good. Williams and Woodson are playing great. Shields has been playing amazing considering his lack of experience at CB. Like others pointed out, the #4 CB needs to be someone that can contribute to Special Teams.

If an injury does occur in the secondary though, this may hurt us. Again, it MIGHT hurt us. I don’t think Al is done, he still has some juice left in the tank, but he certainly isn’t a better option over Williams or Shields right now. Yes, I prefer Shields over Harris.

Clearly you already rue the day!!! I am not at all concerned about this move in any way shape or form! Harris is very much an unknown to us fans… The FO and coaches know what he can do alot better and have a much better idea of any potential lockerroom implications. ANd I’m sure the move to release Harris has already been discussed w/ the team by the FO and coaches! I don’t see ANY problems coming from it.

Nothing wrong w/ the play of any of the top 3 CB to warrant giving Harris the nickel spot and the dime hasn’t been a problem either from what I remember!

Im sorry but we are one injury away in the secondary to going back to last years playoff game against AZ where Jarrett Bush was on the field. We got guys on our roster that really should be on the practice squad right now and you’re gonna tell me that they have no room on the roster for a guy like Al Harris, who spent years shutting down opposing no. 1 WRs all game long. He brings the physicality, and veteran leadership that many guys on this roster do not possess. Al Harris is one of my favorite player and him and Woodson formed a shutdown duo. I think its wrong to just let a guy like that go who has done so much for this team.

His agent is just positioning him to get picked up or to get a nice contract somewhere. That is his job.

No way.

I think its the end of the day. They release the waiver list at the end of the day, not when he’s actually dropped. You should hear right around 3 pm central time just like with the Moss stuff last week.

Because he’s making more than Williams and Shields? First of all, Williams signed a RFA tender of $3.168 million for 2010, so his base salary is more than Harris this year, not to mention they’re negotiating a contract extension, so I highly doubt Tramon would give two craps. And an undrafted rookie nickel QB is going to have his feelings hurt by Harris making more than him? If anything he should be upset that Bush/Lee/Underwood are making more than him, and you don’t see TT cutting them.

So to sum up, no. I don’t think that’s what MM means by a “Big Picture decision.”