Report: Anthony Harris could be potential tag and trade candidate

In what was considered a surprising move by the Vikings for a couple reasons, the team applied the franchise tag to safety Anthony Harris.

Harris is coming off a stellar year in which he had six interceptions, tied for a league high, so the franchise tag isn’t surprising from a player-performance standpoint.

However, the Vikings rarely use the tag, and Mike Zimmer said recently that “if you put up the positions most important on defense it’s probably not going to be safety.”

However, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, the Vikings are telling teams that Harris “could be had for a mid-to-late round draft pick,” a source told him.

The #Vikings surprisingly applied the franchise tag to safety Anthony Harris but acknowledged to teams that Harris could be had for a mid-to-late round draft pick, source said. A potential tag and trade candidate.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020

Just because the Vikings locked down their safety for the time being, doesn’t mean that the team is keeping him around long term. Harris is a very good player, but the Vikings are strapped for cash and have needs at other areas.