20. Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings
Harrison Smith is just a hilarious human being. This offseason, he said he did a lot of welding and carpentry work as his serenity. It has very “whatever floats your boat” energy in the most wholesome way possible. Smith is now ready for his 13th season in the league, coming into a Vikings team that’s a little bit in transition.
The Vikings still have super-duper stars, including Smith himself. They obviously have Justin Jefferson, and they want to maximize the asset of having one of the best players in the NFL in his prime. They drafted J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft.
Smith is a superstar on the defensive side, but he’s in a much different situation. He’s 35 years old, and his prime is very much behind him. He’s still a really good safety, but his impact is limited for multiple reasons. We already mentioned the age, but we also have the fact that safety isn’t as important a position as it was back in the day. He actually took a pay cut this offseason. The Vikings are going into the season with more than $25 million in cap space, meaning the Vikings asked Smith to take a pay cut just to line the owner’s pockets. That’s beyond the point here, but it’s an interesting fact.
There have been rumors that Smith has been considering retirement. Once the rumors are out there, it’s hard to quell them. We will be looking at this like it’s Smith’s last season, and we will miss his personality and his quirks when he’s gone.