NFL Free Agency Rumors: James Harrison “Would Love” to Play for Cleveland Browns
By Josh Hill
Memo to all NFL teams: James Harrison is open to playing for you. Earlier on Saturday Harrison was finally cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers and almost immediately — as if out of spite — said he was open to playing for the New England Patriots. Harrison backed off that statement later in the day but he changed out Patriots and replaced it with Browns as Harrison’s agent has expressed an interest in his client playing for Cleveland next year.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Harrison’s agent Bill Parise said he thinks his client is a “good fit” with the Browns and could see him playing there for Ray Horton in 2013. But despite being a nemesis for the Browns in the past, going as far as to concuss three of their players in recent years, Harrison is actually not a bad fit for the Browns.
Harrison is an Akron native and went to college at Kent State, so he does have ties to the Cleveland area. There’s also the Ray Horton connection as before becoming the defensive coordinator with the Cardinals and now the Browns, Horton was a defensive assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers while Harrison was with the team.
But while he makes sense, Harrison is not going to be a first choice for the Browns when it comes to filling the hole at outside linebacker. Paul Kruger remains the Browns No. 1 target in free agency, but if they’re outbid by another team, Cleveland very well could look Harrison’s way for help.
His age is an issue, but his tenacity is not and his vulgar swagger might be the tone-setting adrenaline the Browns new defense needs moving forward. However, the Browns were the second team in 24 hours that Harrison either directly or indirectly showed an interest in, so it’s looking like this won’t be the last team to be linked to Harrison over the weekend.