Roman Harper, likely one of the worst safeties to roam the football field over the past two seasons or so, signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Carolina Panthers. Harper is being brought in after Carolina lost Mike Mitchell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in free agency.
Former Saints Pro-Bowl S Roman Harper reached agreement with Panthers on a two-year, $4.5M deal that includes $1.5M sign bonus, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 15, 2014
The issue here is that Harper just isn’t a good football player. New Orleans understood this when it benched him last season, as he started just five games and even played some outside linebacker. four years removed from a Pro Bowl campaign, Harper’s career has taken a major downtick since.
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Harper was the worst coverage safety and second-worst overall safety in the NFL his final season as a regular starter back in 2012.
This forced the Saints to spend a first-round pick on the talented Kenny Vaccaro. Now a few years removed from being an upper-echelon player in this league, Harper joins the division rival Panthers.
In a 2014 NFL draft class flush with solid strong safety prospects, it’s intriguing that the Panthers would pay anything guaranteed to a player that is a liability whenever he steps on to the football field.
But what do I know?
Photo: Howard Smith, USA Today