Veteran safety Harrison Smith has just one year left on his deal with the Minnesota Vikings headed into the 2021 season. The 32-year-old has spent the entirety of his career with the franchise that drafted him in the first round in 2012, but a future together appears murky.
Even so, Smith maintains that he foresees himself as a Viking for life, even if that means he’s on a new team a few years from now.
On the latest episode of the All Things Covered podcast, hosted by Patrick Peterson and retired cornerback Bryant McFadden, Smith shared that he has no intentions of leaving Minnesota. However, he acknowledged that sometimes the NFL doesn’t work out that way, as it didn’t for his new teammate in the secondary.
“Yeah, I mean I don’t know what happens at the end of careers,” Smith said, via Will Ragatz of SI.com. “I was listening to, it might’ve been the [episode] with Champ [Bailey], Pat Pete was saying at that ten-year mark, sometimes things change. I don’t plan on that happening, but the NFL is the NFL. It’s always wild. But I’ll always consider myself a Viking no matter what.”
Earlier this offseason, Smith shared that he’s looking to extend his contract and stay with the Vikings.
“I don’t have a solid answer for you, but obviously I’ve been here going on 10 [seasons] and would love to be here in the future,” Smith said, via Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “Going to look at those things and see what we can do. That’s about it right now.”
Since then, there hasn’t been much update on the safety’s negotiations with the front office. Considering he’ll be 33 by the start of the 2022 season, the Vikings may look for a younger player to replace him.
Smith might be getting older, but his production has remained consistent in recent years. He’s missed just one game in the last four seasons and still racked up 54 total tackles and five interceptions in 2020.
The Vikings will at least get to hold onto Smith through 2021, but will need to act fast if they want to prevent him from entering free agency next spring.
The post Harrison Smith Shares Honest Admission On NFL Future appeared first on The Spun.