Philadelphia Eagles officially introduce Anthony Harris: 3 Fun facts

After the clock strikes 12 A.M. on Wednesday, March 24th, the book will close on what was very busy Tuesday for the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. Only one more Tuesday remains in March, but the fourth of our great nation’s third month was one we’ll discuss for quite some time.

Hassan Ridgeway, Andrew Adams, and Anthony Harris all put pen to paper on new deals, and at the time of this story being published, it looks like Philly is signing Joe Flacco. Everyone can’t stop talking about Harris though as the Birds officially introduced their new safety to the media.

Would this qualify as deja vu for Philadelphia Eagles fans?

It seems like this is said every year about someone. It also seems like, more often than not, things don’t go in the Eagles’ favor, but just for kicks, let’s restate an old narrative. Harris’s deal is only a one-year arrangement. Some call those prove-it deals.

Harris gets $5 million for the 2021-2022 campaign, and if things don’t work out, the Birds need only to cut their losses and move on. Hey, most of you guys know that already though. It’s hard to keep secrets from Eagles fans, so with that being said, let’s have a little fun here.

Here are three fun facts if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.

Philly’s first major land of the 2021 offseason is a huge talking point. Let’s get into some facts that Birds fans might already be discussing with a few friends.

1. Would you believe this guy was an undrafted free agent?

Sure, most of you are aware of that. It just bears repeating. Harris is proof that even the smartest football minds can screw up the evaluation process. All 32 teams passed on this young man over and over again for seven rounds in 2015. 15 safeties were taken over the course of three days.

Things worked out pretty well for Harris though. He’s racked up over 304 total tackles, 29 pass breakups, and ten interceptions in 86 career games with 49 starts. That’s if you include five playoff games. He was also the NFL’s co-leader in interceptions in 2019 with six.

2. Harris’ addition reunites him with a former coach.

This is this young man’s second tour of duty with the Philadelphia Eagles’ new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. The latter served as the Vikings’ assistant defensive backs coach from 2014 to 2017, meaning both he and Harris spent three years together in Minneapolis.

3. This is the second go-around as a teammate of Rodney McLeod’s for Harris.

A graduate of the University of Virginia (somewhere, Chris Long is smiling), Harris and Rodney McLeod spent the 2011 collegiate season together in Charlottesville. He’s also been a teammate of both Marcus Epps and Craig James at the professional level, so he has some familiar faces to help him get acclimated.

He seems excited, stating that he looks forward to speaking with Rodney McLeod as well as pairing up with him and sharing knowledge of their stories and journeys that began as undrafted free agents. The most important thing to remember, however, is this is, again, a low-risk and high reward signing for the Birds. There isn’t a ton of excitement yet, but there’s a slight buzz building at the NovaCare Complex.