They probably very well wanted to keep him, but have plenty of young, multi-position ready lineman. The Colts have one of the youngest Offensive lines in the league (T-4th) and over the span of the last 7 games of the 2016 season, it was one of the NFL's best. During that span the line included 3 Rookie starters, whom stepped in parellel to Harris, mostly due to injuries for starters who were also on Rookie contracts. Actually most of the lineman but 1 or 2 average $500,000/year, Harris's average salary has been $500,000/year. If they tendered him at the lowest level it would have raised his salary up to $1,671,000, tripling his cap number and making him one of the Colts highest paid lineman. He was initially signed as a Center but like a few of the Colts lineman, can play multiple positions as that's what they try and look for. Unfortunately for him, the Colts drafted a Center, 18th Overall and another in the 7th round. In a nutshell, the Colts are in a rare position where letting a guy like this go doesn't really hurt as they are loaded up front with younger, cheaper clones. Again, rare case. Edit- I'm curious to see what his contract will look like - 1 year 750,000? I can see him above Ovale on the depth chart, around 8th out of 10 spots .. just making the "dressed" cutoff.
"Restricted free agents can be held in place through the application of one of three tenders. The lowest level provides a right or first refusal. The second-round tender provides a right of first refusal and (duh) a second-round pick as compensation if the original team doesn’t match. The first-round tender carries a right of first refusal and a first-round pick as compensation. This year, the tender amounts are $1.671 million, $2.553 million, and $3.635 million, respectively." The amounts are not high but sometimes it's about player salary vs same team average position salary comparisons, player tier value vs player tier league average value, and team need vs roster spots.
[QUOTE="Pags2112, post: 3563969, I'm curious to see what his contract will look like - 1 year 750,000? I can see him above Ovale on the depth chart, around 8th out of 10 spots .. just making the "dressed" cutoff.[/QUOTE] I want too far off from the base but didn't factor in the signing bonus: "Jonotthan Harrison signed a one year, $850,000 contract with the Jets on March 28, 2017. His base salary is estimated to be $700,000. According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, Harrison received a $50,000 signing bonus. Overthecap estimates that Harrison will receive an $80,000 roster bonus if active for the first game of the season and a total of up to $20,000 in per game bonuses. If Harrison is cut before the first game of the season he will have a dead money hit of $50,000."
