Vikings sign Harrison Phillips

[supafreak84]

https://nfltraderumors.co/vikings-signin...9-5m-deal/

[Guest]

PFF's breakdown on Phillips
Phillips has become a fairly reliable one technique on early downs who can clog up the middle, as his 79.8 run-defense grade on 473 snaps is a career-high. His role is limited, but it frees up the Bills’ dynamic duo of linebackers and safeties behind him, which carries value.
Bottom Line:
Phillips isn’t a game-changer on the interior who is going to make splash plays at a high clip. He is a nice rotational piece and locker room guy who will specialize in the run game, though.

[Guest]

Bills were 6-2 this year when he was a starter. Forget the PFF stats, wins baby

[Guest]

Harrison Phillips heads to Minnesota on big three-year deal
This is from Buffalo Rumblings:
The Buffalo Bills have lost rising star from their defense. 1-tech defensive tackle Harrison Phillips has signed a big deal with the Minnesota Vikings, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport.

Garafolo reports it as a three-year, $19.5 million deal. We projected a three-year, $18 million contract for Phillips earlier this offseason and he has slightly exceeded that number. We will have to see how it’s structured.

Phillips has overcome multiple injuries throughout his career to play at a high level by the end of the 2021 season. He had usurped veteran Star Lotulelei as the starting 1-tech by the time the playoffs rolled around. This leaves a hole in their defense, at least in their best defensive alignment.
https://apple.news/AbXFVf61ATyaaDixrwcVfkw

[Guest]

Would imagine this fit their cap better than keeping Pierce. They'll save $6M this year moving on and Phillips cap hit will be under that. Then in 2023 Pierce's $11.5M will be off the cap. So its really a multi-year savings. You also go from a 30 year old player to a 26 year old. 

[Guest]

Its interesting in that he seems very similar to Lynch already. I also wonder what impact this will have on the Michael Pierce front 

[Guest]

@"Geoff Nichols" said:
Would imagine this fit their cap better than keeping Pierce. They'll save $6M this year moving on and Phillips cap hit will be under that. Then in 2023 Pierce's $11.5M will be off the cap. So its really a multi-year savings. You also go from a 30 year old player to a 26 year old. 

I also thought some of those same things but he's about 40 pounds lighter then Pierce. I guess as a rotational piece he's okay. Still think I'd rather have Pierces girth on the nose 

[Guest]

Pierce released...so that answers that question 

[Guest]

Phillips played for Stanford University, where as a senior in 2017 he racked up team highs in tackles (103), tackles for loss (17) and sacks (7.5).   103 tackles for a DL, wow! :o
 
He earned All-Pac-12 First-Team honors and was named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) All-American Second Team. Phillips also was a finalist for the Bobby Bowden Award and the Lott IMPACT Trophy.


If Phillips wasn't in the NFL, his other athletic dream ambition would be making the U.S. Olympic wrestling team.

The big man was a three-time state-champion wrestler at Millard West High School (Omaha), working his way up from 189 pounds as a freshman to winning the Class A 285-pound state title as a senior.
Phillips credits his wrestling background with helping him be a better football player.
https://www.vikings.com/news/harrison-phillips-defensive-tackle-5-things-to-know

[Guest]

More on Horrible Harry I didn't see before....

Gil Brandt: Bills 'must keep' DT Harrison PhillipsNFL Hall of Famer Gil Brandt rolled through every team in the league as picked one of their pending free agents that he thought the team has to keep around.
The Buffalo Bills don’t have many big-time free agents readying to hit the market, thankfully.
However, Brandt still believes that defensive tackle Harrison Phillips is a guy that the Bills have to try their best to hang onto.
Here’s his breakdown on Phillips via NFL.com: 

Despite dealing with a knee injury, Phillips put up his strongest year as a pro, earning the fifth-highest defensive grade on the team from PFF. He also tied for second among Bills players with 13 run stuffs, per Next Gen Stats, and he managed double-digit pressures (18), second-most among interior Buffalo linemen. The 26-year-old could anchor the defensive front in Western New York for years to come.

Long at last, Phillips finally started to breakout in 2021.
After being selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL draft, folks in Buffalo immediately started to compare Phillips to another Bills legend: Kyle Williams. Unfortunately a series of injuries kept Phillips on the sideline and he never reached those levels… until 2021.
Phillips was a strong force in the middle of Buffalo’s defensive line next to Ed Oliver. Star Lotulelei missed time due to injury, forcing the Bills to start Phillips. However, once Lotulelei returned, Phillips stuck in his starting spot.
For context, we have Pro Football Focus. Defensive tackles don’t put up the big numbers on the stat sheet, so PFF provides some insight.
Phillips was Buffalo’s best interior defender in 2021, per the analytics outlet. His mark of 75.2 slotted Phillips in as a the 15th best defensive tackle in the NFL last season. Ed Oliver was just behind him at No. 23.
Considering their ages, both Phillips and Oliver can continuing climbing this ranking. The Bills should do everything they can to get Phillips under contract as Brandt suggests, and Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane already expressed his desire to do so.