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32-year-old Duron Harmon is still looking for his next team in what will be his 11th NFL season. The former longtime Patriot has spent the last four seasons with four different teams and is among the top free agent safeties still on the market.
According to Bleacher Report's Maurice Moton, the Vikings are the best fit for Harmon's services in 2023.
The Vikings lost battle-tested veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson to the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency. Furthermore, 2022 first-rounder Lewis Cine may need another year before he flashes his full potential.
In Week 4 last season, Cine suffered a compound fracture in his leg, which sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign. As one would expect, he didn't look impressive in live-game action for the first time in about 10 months.
While the Vikings shouldn't give up on Cine, they can add a plug-and-play veteran while the young safety finds his way as a pro. Harmon makes sense for Minnesota because he's familiar with defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who served as his position coach between 2013 and 2015 in New England.
Drafted in the third round out of Rutgers in 2013, Harmon spent seven seasons with the Patriots, overlapping with Brian Flores for the first six. He appeared in 111 regular season games and 17 playoff contests with New England, winning three Super Bowls. Harmon was never a full-time starter but did play between 617 and 829 snaps (including postseason) in each of his final five years with the Patriots.
During his New England tenure, Harmon earned the nickname "The Closer" for his penchant to come up with clutch late-game interceptions. The 6-foot, 205-pound free safety had 17 regular season INTs and another four in the playoffs as a Patriot. Harmon spent 2020 with the Lions, 2021 with the Falcons, and 2022 with the Raiders, playing over 1,000 snaps as a starting safety in each season. He had a strong season in Las Vegas last year, earning a 77.6 PFF coverage grade that was his highest mark since 2017.
Duron Harmon PICK-6! @Raiders lead 38-20. @dharm32
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
: #HOUvsLV on CBS
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/tY2rmmLSQR pic.twitter.com/bTqf8vXbV4
Harmon visited with the Ravens on Monday.
Should the Vikings consider bringing him in for a visit? The Flores connection makes speculation understandable, as Harmon would presumably take a bit less time to pick up the defense than a typical free agent, even if it's been five years since he played under Flores. Still, at this point, it would be a bit of a surprise to see the Vikings pivot at the safety position. They've got Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum as starters, with Josh Metellus and Lewis Cine behind them on the depth chart.
Bynum played every single defensive snap for the Vikings last year at free safety. There were some ups and downs in his play — PFF liked his run defense and tackling a lot more than his coverage — but he's 25 years old and could be part of the Vikings' future if he puts it all together under Flores in 2023. Metellus will be a key chess piece as a third safety, while Cine is looking to figure things out in year two after being taken in the first round in 2022.
The argument against signing Harmon is that Bynum has spent this whole offseason learning Flores' defense and preparing to start, and that Metellus and Cine provide enough depth behind him. The argument in favor of exploring the move is that Harmon is far more proven as a coverage player at free safety than Bynum. The Vikings clearly plan to contend this year, so bringing in Harmon and pairing him with Smith on the back end would raise the floor of their entire secondary.
Harmon is incredibly durable; since being inactive in Week 1 of his rookie year, he's played in 178 consecutive games, including playoffs. He has 27 NFL interceptions to his name and showed last year that he's still a productive player at this stage of his career.
In all likelihood, Harmon will end up signing elsewhere, but bringing him in feels like something the Vikings should at least discuss internally.
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