The New York Giants have one superstar at the wide receiver position, and not much else. However, the team should not look to Percy Harvin to help add depth.
Percy Harvin has had a very, shall we say, interesting, NFL career. Numerous outlets, including Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports, have already detailed his odyssey, so I’ll try to save you the repetition.
He entered the league in 2009, and since then, he’s struggled staying healthy. Even worse, he’s developed an off-field reputation as a bad teammate, despite being scintillating when he’s healthy.
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Despite his injury history and contemplating retirement, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported Harvin plans to play in 2016. Although Harvin is one of the few receivers on the open market under 30 with name recognition, the New York Giants would be wise to stay away from the 27-year-old receiver, despite some fans’ pleas.
This might be crazy, but I would be excited if Percy Harvin joined the Giants. I just can't give up on my Gators.
— Nicholas Rossoletti (@NRoss56) March 31, 2016
For starters, Harvin hasn’t played a full season since 2011. Although he racked up a combined 1,312 yards as a receiver and a runner that year, he hasn’t even come close to replicating that success.
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Since his career-best 2011, Harvin has appeared in a measly 28 games, only totaling 1,395. I understand Harvin is exceptionally sensational when he’s healthy, but relying on Harvin’s health has proven to be like relying
So health is a huge concern with Harvin. Signing him would be an odd move for the Giants, considering they would then be relying on the questionable health of two receivers, Victor Cruz being the other one.
Another issue with Harvin is where he would fit in the offense.
Look, I get that Harvin was an absolute beast in Super Bowl 48, but signing him would simply be a bad idea for the Giants. The team doesn’t need a player with Harvin’s skill set. Instead, New York would be better off with a possession receiver like Anquan Boldin or Marques Colston.
If the hope is that Harvin would slide into the slot, let’s not forget Harvin has an ego, and he views himself as an outside receiver, not just a slot guy, which would be the only position he would make any modicum of sense on the Giants.
Rich Eisen perfectly explained Harvin’s misguided desire to play outside in 2014, saying, “Percy Harvin comes on the team, and plays a position, outside, where clearly he wants to play, opposed to a slot-receiver position where Seattle was putting him, and it turned into a disaster.”
However, the biggest issue with Harvin is his personality. There’s video of Harvin shouting at his former head coach Leslie Frazier, who was considered one of the quieter HCs. Harvin himself admitted he came to blows with former teammate Doug Baldwin, according to Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News. I could go on listing knocks against Harvin’s character, but ESPN’s Rich Camini already outlined a history of Harvin’s incidents.
The Giants have a new head coach in Ben McAdoo. The team’s free-agency frenzy brought even more attention to them, and expectations are certainly high right now. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Giants to take a risk on a guy who A) may wind up being injured very quickly, and B) Has a history of being a cancer in the locker room.
If the Giants were — for some reason — to bring in Harvin, I think it would only be a matter of days before his personality clashed with Odell Beckham Jr.’s, leading to an altercation.
Yes, the Giants need receiver help, but turning to Percy Harvin would be a disastrous blunder that would likely blow up in the Giants’ face.