Roman Harper, the Pro Bowl strong safety for the New Orleans Saints, has been keeping busy this offseason working out and devoting time to his charity Harper’s Hope. But Harper’s situation is a little different from many of his teammates – he is scheduled to be a free agent this year, and has already had to wait a year due to the changing rules of free agency.
Under the old collective bargaining agreement, players were free agents after four years. The NFL opted out of the old CBA, making 2010 an uncapped year and changing the timeline for free agency from four years to six. Harper, a second round draft pick in 2006, would have been a free agent last year under the four year timeline, but not under the 2010 rules.
He signed a one year contract going into last season, and now has to wait for a chance to even talk to the Saints about his contract status for this year. In spite of this, he remains very committed to his current team. He recently said he was 90 percent certain he would be with the Saints next year, and he joined his teammates in recent player-organized workouts.
The Saints’ workouts included incoming rookies, which gave Harper a chance to work with and mentor his new teammates. He spoke about the advantages of these workouts for the rookies, “It’s good. They can already get concepts of what we like to do defensively, offensively. And to see and learn how to be a pro – that’s the biggest thing they can learn being out here.”
As serious as the workouts were, Harper did squeeze in a little tongue-in-cheek bragging about his golf game. “I’m also trying to golf. Smoked one about 310 yesterday, so I’m feeling good about myself.” When asked what he shot on that hole, Harper replied laughing “I still bogeyed it. But it’s about the drive. I didn’t tell you about the rest of the hole.”
