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Time to bring Tommie Harris back
Time to bring Tommie Harris back
Veteran could be fourth defensive tackle in a rotation
Dan Pompei
On the NFL
7:40 p.m. CDT, May 8, 2012
It was time when the Bears cut ties with Tommie Harris in February 2011.
Now, in May 2012, it could be time to bring Harris back.
When the Bears cut Harris, he was the starting defensive tackle, the onetime centerpiece of the defense who was scheduled to make more than $5.3 million that season.
If they bring back Harris, they think he can be a fourth defensive tackle in a rotation for what passes for chump change in an NFL locker room.
Things have changed in a year.
Last season the Bears didn't need Harris. They replaced him with rookie Stephen Paea and veteran free agent Amobi Okoye.
But Okoye since has left for the Bucs, and Anthony Adams was cut. That leaves the Bears short at the position. They have only three defensive tackles they can count on — Henry Melton, Stephen Paea and Matt Toeaina.
Things have changed for Harris too.
He signed with the Colts last August but was cut before the season. He sat out the first three weeks of the season before the Chargers signed him as a replacement for injured players.
After the season his deal expired, and he has sat waiting by the phone. The Bears have talked about making that phone ring.
Understand something. The list of available defensive tackles was underwhelming the day free agency started. Now, it is beyond underwhelming.
Harris stands out as an interior pass rusher, as long as your expectations are reasonable. At 30, Harris is not going to be a dominating pass rusher who wreaks havoc down after down. But he can be an effective spot player.
He played in 13 games last season for the Chargers as a nickel rusher. He had three sacks, which is more than either Paea or Toeaina. According to Pro Football Focus, he had 10 quarterback pressures, which was four more than Toeaina, and five more than Paea.
STATS had Harris with three knockdowns, which was two fewer than Paea and as many as Toeaina.
Paea and Toeaina figure to be the Bears' second and third tackles behind Henry Melton. The Bears need to replace the 773 snaps than Okoye (615) and Adams (158) gave them last year.
Paea, the team's second-round pick in 2011, will be expected nearly to double his snaps in his second season. So the Bears will need another tackle to take 10 to 15 a game.
Harris played 259 snaps last season. He is at the stage of his career when fewer snaps could mean more production.
The reports I received from three front-office men on Harris' play last season were pretty positive. The bigger issue with him may be his ability to sustain his production and health over the course of 16 games.
"He could be productive in stretches," one personnel director said. "But he has degenerative knees. It will be a question as to whether or not he can get through a season."
Harris' knee and hamstring problems have changed him from the player the Bears drafted with the 14th overall pick in 2004. But he still has a quick first step that enables him to defeat a blocker a few times a game. That quality is not easy to find.
A team acquiring Harris has to have a specific role in mind.
"He needs to win early in the play," the personnel director said. "He doesn't have the explosion he once did to do it play in, play out. He gets overwhelmed in the power game."
Harris would be welcome in the Bears' locker room, which he left on good terms.
Coach Lovie Smith often has spoken fondly of Harris and traveled to New Orleans with many from the organization in February to be with him for the funeral of Harris' wife, Ashley, who died in February.
Harris needed the Bears that day. And the Bears need Harris now.
Chicago Bears: Time to bring Tommie Harris back - chicagotribune.com
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I don't know about bringing him back. If Paea plays the 3tech rotation bringing Adams back makes more sense. If Paea is going to float between 3tech and NT then a FA DT should have been contingency planned knowing Okoye was pining for greener pastures months ago (and of course no DT drafted either).
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Were we or were we not just discussing this very same thing last week? And suddenly Dan "the man" Pompei pops in with an article suggesting this? I think we have a "lurker". Somebody get his IP address.
I think at the very least it would be worth it to bring Harris in for a physical and a look see as far as what can be expected of him. If he had 3 sacks and 10 pressures in just 259 snaps you can compare that pretty favorably to the 4 sacks Okoye had in 615 snaps. Looks like Tommie can still "bring it" on a partime basis.
If he can still play some if we sign him for a vet minimum he's a mini hit of less than $500k against the cap and I'm not sure where we'd find another vet inside pass rusher for that little. It would be nice to leave Paea sharing time with Toe and all of his passing downs. He was coming along real well there later last season and bringing AA back in place of Harris would force a move to UT for him where he'd back Melton. I think he needs to play more than that.
Bottom line is it costs us nothing to sign him and bring him to camp. There probably isn't a whole lot of interest in him and since he has a history in Chicago and a lot of friends on the team this should be a place he'd be pleased to go and get another shot at a ring. So I say yes. It's not a bad idea at all.
Last edited by soulman; 05-08-2012 at 09:35 PM.
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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Somewhere, deep inside, I am still harboring that little glimmer of hope, that Tommie might someday show that flash that he had, just for a few crucial minutes at the end of a playoff game. You know, the kind of crap they write movies about? Thats the only reason I would like to have him back with Da Bears. Goal line stand, 4th and Goal from three inches, Tommie shoots in there and stops the FB in the backfield. I can see it now.
Not gonna happen.
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Originally Posted by
BossK 
Somewhere, deep inside, I am still harboring that little glimmer of hope, that Tommie might someday show that flash that he had, just for a few crucial minutes at the end of a playoff game. You know, the kind of crap they write movies about? Thats the only reason I would like to have him back with Da Bears. Goal line stand, 4th and Goal from three inches, Tommie shoots in there and stops the FB in the backfield. I can see it now.
Not gonna happen.
Still I like that though.
Arguing on the internet is like winning the special olympics, even if you win your still messed up.
Restore the roar!
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Hopefully they do bring him in as a backup. We're going to the Super Bowl this year so it would be nice for Tommie to get a ring int he process.
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If he can be somewhat effective in a limited role why not, we ain't gonna be expecting starter production. And if he's good for the locker room that's an added benefit.
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
A " F.H.I.T.S " ? or a J'Marcus ?
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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
soulman Were we or were we not just discussing this very same thing last week? And suddenly Dan "the man" Pompei pops in with an article suggesting this? I think we have a "lurker". Somebody get his IP address.
I think at the very least it would be worth it to bring Harris in for a physical and a look see as far as what can be expected of him. If he had 3 sacks and 10 pressures in just 259 snaps you can compare that pretty favorably to the 4 sacks Okoye had in 615 snaps. Looks like Tommie can still "bring it" on a partime basis.
If he can still play some if we sign him for a vet minimum he's a mini hit of less than $500k against the cap and I'm not sure where we'd find another vet inside pass rusher for that little. It would be nice to leave Paea sharing time with Toe and all of his passing downs. He was coming along real well there later last season and bringing AA back in place of Harris would force a move to UT for him where he'd back Melton. I think he needs to play more than that.
Bottom line is it costs us nothing to sign him and bring him to camp. There probably isn't a whole lot of interest in him and since he has a history in Chicago and a lot of friends on the team this should be a place he'd be pleased to go and get another shot at a ring. So I say yes. It's not a bad idea at all.
With a little more than a third of the snaps that Okoye was in on (259 for Harris to 615 for Okoye) and he got three sacks? I think the guy is well worth the money. Who knows? He might be better than that, and I'm not so sure that he can't be a lighter version of his old self despite the bad hamstring and knees.
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Article makes the bold assumption that he even WANTS to come back.
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