Six-Time Pro Bowl Safety Re-Signs with the Vikings
Harrison Smith signed a one-year deal worth up to 14 million with the Vikings. The former first-round pick has been a staple for the Minnesota Vikings organization for his entire 13-year career, securing over 1,100 tackles and 37 interceptions from the safety position. The former First-Team All-Pro safety who just turned 36 in February, contemplated retirement before signing this deal. Smith ultimately decided to give it one last run to give himself a Lombardi trophy in Minnesota.
Minnesota has not been very lucky when it comes to lifting the coveted Lombardi Trophy. Spanning all the way back to the 1970s, the Vikings lost four Super Bowls in less than ten years. In more recent memory, they have struggled to make it past the first round of the playoffs, losing to far more inferior teams like the Daniel Jones-led Giants in 2021, or teams on a spectacular Cinderella run like the Nick Foles-led Eagles in 2017. Their woes continued into 2024 where they became the first 14-win Wild Card team in NFL history, and subsequently lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the first round.
A first-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2012, Smith started every game his rookie year, notching over 100 combined tackles, four takeaways, and two touchdowns. The six-time Pro Bowler achieved career highs in interceptions in 2014, 2017, 2020, and 2022 with five in each of those seasons. Smith has always had moderate success in the secondary while playing in Minnesota, maintaining a respectable average of 80 combined tackles per year. While he has reached the milestone of 80 tackles in a year in all but three seasons, it seems like age and durability are not as big of factors when it comes to Harrison Smith’s on-field production.
The 36-year-old safety has only missed 19 games in his entire career, eight of them coming in a 2013 stint on the injured reserve for a foot injury. Smith has experienced it all, starting in 191 of 192 games he has played in, witnessing some rough outcomes to games and seasons paired with monumental collapses. There have also been some highlights in his time with the Vikings, but all seem incredibly inconsequential when one looks into the end result of that season. The Vikings are excited to bring a strong veteran presence into the fold on such a light veteran deal to build on the developmental progress of younger players while trying to get Smith his first Lombardi Trophy.
