Roman Harper, safety
Harper was signed in 2016 to a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints. Prior to that, Harper spent two seasons with the NFC South rival Carolina Panthers.
In his return to The Big Easy, Harper played in all 16 games and started in four. Unfortunately, he managed zero takeaways, defended zero passes and tallied a mere 25 combined tackles. For that, fans are actually calling for him to hang up his jersey.
Roman Harper please retire after today.
Sincerely,
Frustrated Saints fans
— Al Capoon (@DonTakano) January 1, 2017
Harper was originally drafted by the Saints in the second round in 2006. He spent eight seasons there before heading to Carolina in 2014.
The veteran safety returned to New Orleans last summer, and head coach Sean Payton said he had “too much respect” for Harper only to sign then cut him before the end of training camp.
Unfortunately as a unit, the Saints defense failed miserably, allowing 28.4 points on average to their opposition.
Considering Harper’s waning contribution, it would be surprising to see the one-time Super Bowl champion sporting any team’s uniform come next fall.