Al Harris is, right now, better than Shields as the nickel corner. However, the following was taken into account when relasing him:
1) Age. He's 35. By next year, Shields will be a better corner.
2) ST play. Tramon Williams plays ST. Shields plays ST. Even Nick Collins plays ST. Harris doesn't.
3) Injuries. We are really thin at other positions, mainly at DL, to get rid of someone else to put on Harris.
So there you go. He would contend for our nickel spot, but wouldn't add anything at ST. They wouldn't even activate a dime back who doesn't play ST, let alone keep the guy.
It was very unfortunate for him. Too much competition, and too many injuries on other spots. No doubt he is better than Lee, Underwood and Bush as a cornerback. But we don't have the luxury of keeping him, not when our ST is still so deficient, and when we have an incredible great depth at CB...
Al harris, right now, we dont know where he is.
yes from an experience standpoint he has shields blown out of the water. but he is 11 mo removed from obliterating a 36 year old knee. im pretty sure if he tore anything else in there the lower leg would have fallen clean off. similar injuries require players alot younger than him to take a year or more to fully recover from that bad of an injury. im fairly certain that the knee is the limiting factor here, while it may not feel in pain anymore, after the teen years the body stops repairing perfectly (if it can be called that then) and things never go back the way they used to regardless of rehab.
Harris wasnt a speedster even with healthy knees. he had his fair share of picks and great defensive plays mind you, but in the last few years he was never matched up on a marquee guy, and when he was he got plaxico'd we as fans just glossed over alot of the miscues because he had been great before then, and we werent spoiled with talent like we are now. i know its been a while, but
i cant recall the last time harris made a pick or defensed a pass with a show of sheer athleticism. i can recall plenty of times where he was in the right place at the right time for a QB error, and that his experience and talents allowed him to predict and anticipate these things, but that never happened when there was no miscue.
That pick by shields sunday night was just jaw dropping. one handed, up against the wr, falling down. i dont think harris made a pick that athletic in his entire career. hes got me really excited especially since hes still learning. and learning from the best in woodson and now tramon.
i think they got rid of harris because he would never see the field because right now shields is just better. and capers uses safeties in dime anyway instead of corners.