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New England Patriots: Exploring Percy Harvin Option

By Kevin Parvizi

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Back in the 2013 offseason, there was this rumor that the New England Patriots would try to trade for disgruntled then-Minnesota Vikings receiver Percy Harvin despite his cost in cash and draft picks and his injury history. Two years later, Harvin could be on the open market again if he isn’t willing to take a pay cut from $10.5 million in non-guaranteed money with the New York Jets after John Idzik traded him in order to give his hand-picked QB, Geno Smith, another weapon in the hopes that it would save his job at GM.

Idzik’s job wasn’t saved, and it seems like the expectation is for Harvin to depart from New York. CBS Sports’s Jason La Canfora reported that he would be “shocked” if Harvin were to take less money to stay with the Jets, since, you know, players don’t usually take paycuts to play for rebuilding teams.

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La Canfora expects the Patriots to be one of the teams interested in Harvin if he hits the open market, thus bringing back those rumors to the table.

Harvin’s value is arguably at the lowest its been in his career, since he was injured for just about the entire 2013 season and was so ineffective and such a headcase that the WR-deprived Seattle Seahawks decided that it would be better for them to salvage some relatively cheap draft picks instead of having Harvin around for another Super Bowl run. That’s a damning statement of his ineffectiveness and locker room issues, though presumably the Patriots wouldn’t be worried about Harvin causing Bill Belichick any issues.

Based on all of his injuries, his extraordinarily up-and-down play, and his character concerns (though these seem to be overblown and most likely wouldn’t matter in NE), Harvin has done nothing to deserve significant guaranteed money heading his way on any contract. This is a guy who had two 100-yard receiving days last year but also had five games with less than ten yards, finishing with an average of less than 40 receiving yards per game.

But the Patriots seem to like Harvin as a player, and that’s certainly fine. I mean, he is easily one of the most explosive weapons in the game, and while he lacks prowess in the finer points of playing wide receiver, he’s probably the best “gadget” player in the game. Harvin has never put up 1,000 receiving yards in a season, but he did come close in 2011 with the Vikings and easily had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage after factoring in his 342 rushing yards.

Since Tom Brady and the Patriots don’t run anything resembling a vertical offense, they mostly rely on yards after the catch from the likes of Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman to generate their big plays. Harvin is the perfect YAC weapon for an offense that likes to boss the short and intermediate areas of the field, and if anyone can feed the ball to Harvin in the best possible way, then it’s Brady. Harvin could also use his speed on clear-out routes to open up space for Edelman and the others, so that’s another dimension worth exploring.

At this point in time, it’s impossible to make any reasonable predictions about the Pats offseason, since they are currently over the cap and have Darrelle Revis‘s option to mull over. As always, the Pats offseason will be dictated by negotiations with Revis, though the expectation is for the team to keep Revis and Devin McCourty, with the latter being a prime franchise candidate.

It’s hard to see the Patriots coming up with enough money this offseason, since they also have to worry about re-signing players like Dan Connolly and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Shane Vereen is fully expected to leave and Stevan Ridley is also an impending free agent, so there are more players to watch for this offseason.

Possible cap casualties include Vince Wilfork and Danny Amendola, who would have to be released in order to make room for another injury-prone receiver in Harvin. While Amendola is a good receiver who runs some of the best routes in the NFL, the choice between Harvin and Amendola would be obvious for the Patriots, since the former brings even more to the table with his explosiveness. As we all know, the Pats are all about versatility, and Harvin would replace- and then some- the YAC-void left by Vereen’s expected departure.

Harvin is a high-upside player with plenty of risk, so he’s exactly the kind of player who would command a contract big on dollars but low on guaranteed money. That said, it’s hard to see exactly how much he would cost on the open market, since there are so many factors here. His red flags became major ones following his trade from Seattle, since the Seahawks were sick of dealing with his inconsistency. Percy Harvin isn’t a true WR, so teams like the Patriots will also be leery about how well he’ll take to running routes in their system and building a connection with their QB.

It’s hard enough to project how much cap space the New England Patriots will have, but it’s even harder to predict how much money Harvin would make on the open market. How many teams would be interested? Would they force him to take a prove-it deal short on cash, or would they be willing to throw more money at him because of his upside?

Nov 24, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Percy Harvin (16) against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The Patriots-Harvin rumors have been brought back for an encore, except now it actually makes some sense for the Pats to add a new, explosive piece to their offense who can fit their style of passing attack. Harvin’s weaknesses would be mitigated in New England, and I think that’s what could make him an attractive player for them.

There are so many contingencies here that it’s hard to see a deal, since the Pats would need to have the cap space and be able to sign Harvin to a low-risk, one-year prove-it deal.

They could do an option-type contract with Harvin- such as the one they did with Revis- but it would obviously be a much cheaper deal in Year 1. In a sense, the option year is an artificial sweetener, since the Patriots would never intend to pay someone an exorbitant, cap-killing amount.

It’s hard to see the Patriots out-bidding anybody for Harvin’s services, and it’s hard to see them prioritizing him over somebody at a bigger position of need, especially since they have their own free agents to worry about.

For the Patriots to sign Harvin, it would take a “perfect storm” of events, making it highly unlikely that the Pats will be able to add an exciting luxury piece to their offense.

Next: What will be the Pats Top 3 draft needs?

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