This is the last year for Al Harris in Green Bay

[tromadz]

In 2004, Al Harris signed a five-year, $18 million contract extension. That means GB has him till 2009(when Al will be 34).

That in itself is a solid deal for both parties. Al gets money, and GB COULD get a good CB till 2009(unless Al declines in talent, which happens with skill players after 30, especially around 34!!).

But now it appears Harris really wants to re-work his contract, and will possibly hold out next offseason(when he is 32).

Why would an organization re-work a contract to give a 32 year old CB MORE money, when they already have him under contract for two more years(at that point)?

Right now both parties seem to be giving lip service about working it out next year...but I don't think Green Bay will(or should) do it at all.

Signing Al to the current extension he has NOW is pretty risky, but GB probably didn't intend to keep Al till 2009(it is probably a backloaded contract, and if anybody could get info on that, that would help us see what this situation is).

So this is why Al is probably doing what he's doing, holding out, but not really(until next year).

The question is...do you throw a lot of money at a 32 year old cornerback(in 2007)?

I really like Al Harris. His playoff interception vs the Seahawks is legendary. He is(as of right now) a very great CB. But things can change. We have no real depth at CB at this point, so it looks like if we DON'T re-sign Harris next year, we could be in a tough place (Carroll,Hawkins, Blackmon, and Woodson--who is a big questionmark himself).

I see a lot of people thinking this will work itself out, but I think(personally) that Al Harris could EASILY not be a Packer in 2007.

What do you think?

EDIT------EDIT-------EDIT--------EDIT-------EDIT

Packersnews.com:

Harris’ base salary for this season is $1.5 million and the base salaries for the remainder of the contract are $2.2 million in 2007, $2.85 million in 2008 and $3 million in 2009. What Harris could be unhappy about is over the remainder of the contract, the only bonus money he could receive is a $500,000 roster bonus in 2007.
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So yeah....he isn't getting as much money in the remainer...but more than 2 million a year isn't anything to scoff at, not as an aging cornerback.

I hope this all works out.

 

[cheesey]

I think alot will depend on how the younger guys perform this year. If they think they can do without Harris next year, they may just let him holdout.

 

[Cheesehead4]

tromadz did you write that yourself?

But back on topic I'm a huge Al Harris fan and I really hope he doesn't hold out next off season.

 

[tromadz]

yeah i wrote that myself(got the numbrs from packersnews.com)

I just have a gut feeling the Al harris-Packers marriage is going to end badly (next year)...

 

[Cheesehead4]

wow sweet work man

I really hope it doesn't he's a great CB and our best CB IMO I kind off miss M.Mckenzie(sp)

 

[porky88]

If he does well this year I could see GB extending him. IF not then I think we'll run into some problems.

On a side note What the hell is up with Packer players always wanting more money? I think it's beginning to get a little out of hand now. Seems like there is one or two a year.

 

[PackerLegend]

It says he might be unhappy about his bonus money so maybe we could just add some bonus and incentives if he has a good year this year??

 

[Greg C.]

Harris's situation, and how he is handling it, is similar to Donald Driver's, which is encouraging. It sounds like he is just planting a seed for next year. If Woodson lives up to his billing, Harris should see more balls thrown his way, and he could finally get a good number of interceptions. Then things will get more serious because he will have some real bargaining power, especially if he makes the Pro Bowl. I hope he plays out the contract, though, because he may only have a few good seasons left in him.

 

[kmac]

He played as a Nickle corner for his whole career, and he was lucky to get what we paid him. In situations like Javon's, where a player actually needs more money to be secure for the rest of their life, I've got no problem with a guy wanting to re-negotiate. However, that's not the case in Al's situation.

Now if he's just planting the seeds for the next couple years, that's fine, but I am going to flip if Al starts *****ing this year about how he can't feed his family.

 

[porky88]

He played as a Nickle corner for his whole career, and he was lucky to get what we paid him. In situations like Javon's, where a player actually needs more money to be secure for the rest of their life, I've got no problem with a guy wanting to re-negotiate. However, that's not the case in Al's situation.

Now if he's just planting the seeds for the next couple years, that's fine, but I am going to flip if Al starts ****** this year about how he can't feed his family.

Walker sure couldn't feed his family with the 5 mil in bonuses he got up front.

 

[kmac]

He sure as hell can now :lol:

 

[porky88]

He sure as hell can now :lol:

:lol: I'm sure he could feed mine and yours as well.

 

[Greg C.]

This is getting off-topic, but from what I heard, Walker's contract doesn't pay him much this season anyway. The big money won't kick in until he proves that he can play at a high level for a season. I had no problem with Walker wanting to renegotiate, but I DID have a problem with him refusing to honor his contract.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

BTW, Harris' contract for this season includes a $1 million roster bonus. So he's actually banking $2.5 million this season.

 

[GakkofNorway]

probably time to part with him anyways

 

[Bobby Roberts]

probably time to part with him anyways

Why?? He's playing at a top level, doesn't have too much wear & tear since he was a backup for awhile, and he's a proven hard-working pro. His work ethic is something that all of our young DBs should be following. He's the type of solid veteran player that you need on the roster if you want to win.

IMO he's contract isn't really that bad, but this is a guy an organization should want to reward. He's not holding out, just missing some of the "voluntary" offseason workouts. He will be there come TC and throughout the season. I wouldn't mind seeing TT workout a nice little raise similar to what he did with Driver.

 

[Cheesehead4]

I think we have to see how Al Harris does this regualr season and if he does decline, look for a 0%-15% chance that Al getting restructured.
TT won't be looking to restructure Al's contract, becuase he usually never does it for anyone else and why should he do it for a 32 year old CB, when he's probably could be on the decline.

I'd be mad and sad to see Al Harris hold-out

 

[Drich318]

i think you have to give Harris an extension after this season. He is a very good cover corner, and Carroll has shown he is not ready to be a full-time starter in the league, and Hawkins is still way too raw to be depended upon to start. It'll be 2 or 3 more seaosn until they are ready, or we get more rookies to be CBs when Woodson and Harris are gone.

 

[net]

Harris isn't going anywhere. He's ticked because they gave Woodson 10 million guaranteed this year. Since Al is now regarded as one of the top cover corners in the league(among the toughest jobs) he wants the team not to take him for granted.

He will report for training camp.

Barring injury, he will have a good year.

Ted will move some of the backend money in the extension to the front next year.

Much ado about nothing.

 

[musccy]

This is all BULL CRAP! Al just signed a new contract that everyone was more than happy with (many felt that Al got too much if anything), but now, booo hooooo, Al is crying, most likely just because Woodson got a bigger piece of cake 'n ice cream for dessert. Tough luck! Al's contract is more than fair, he agreed to it, he's getting older, etc...I'm sick of ppl thinking the contract you initially signed is only supposed to be a stepping stone for what you will actually make once you lie on the floor in the supermarket and start kicking and screaming.

Also, the Packers need to be REEEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYYYY careful with how they handle cry babies from here on out...it's obvious that the precedent we feared would occur w/ MM and JW is having some impact on these players.

 

[DakotaT]

All of you have made some good points on this topic. The one constant in this argument is Al's age. He's 32 now and at the time of his potential holdout will be 33. Look around the league guys, there aren't too many 33 year old corners.

But, I think a lot of Al's future will depend on the development of Nick Collins. If Collins can continue his progress as deep coverage, Al just might be the best 35 year old lock down safety in the league. Al is awesome what he does, and that is bump and run. He does lack speed though, but good veterans use their minds more than physical skills anyway.

If Al does his negotiations behind closed doors at 1265 Lombardi Ave, and we don't have to read about it until the ink is drying, I have no problem tweaking Harris' contract. The minute these jackasses take it to the press like Javon and Mckenzie, I'm done with them no matter how good they are.

For me the worst ever was Sterling Sharpe. He should have been brought up on felony extortion charges for the sh^t he pulled. I never looked at the guy the same way again.

I tend to think this has a lot to do with the Woodson signing, and I guess I can't blame Al Harris too much for wanting more. After all, he has actually done something for the Packers (Walk off interceptions in playoff games endear you to many fans).

 

[packedhouse01]

Al Harris is a fine corner back, but that is at best. He's not great, he's not outstanding, he just really good. That is better than anything we've had at that position in years, but the key is for the Packers not to pay people who are good players as if they are great players. We have made that mistake time again with Kabeer, Hunt, and host of others. You overpay them, then everyone complains that they're not playing up to their talent level. The truth is, they were overpaid from the start. I think Ron Wolf said this,"you have to be careful not to fall in love with your own players". That makes sense to me because when you do, sign them to contracts that they can't live up to.