Harrison Smith has been a fixture in the Vikings locker room for more than a decade. Originally selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame, the 35-year-old safety has already achieved legendary status in Minnesota, his aggressive style of play synonymous with the defenses he has led throughout his career.

Frankly, the thought of Smith playing for a different team doesn’t make sense to anybody, including himself, which explains why he recently agreed to restructure his contract ahead of next season. He will more than likely retire with the Vikings as a result.

Asked this week why it was so important to keep him around, head coach Kevin O’Connell emphasized how irreplaceable Smith is even at this point in his career.

“I think Harrison Smith is a guy that probably doesn’t get enough credit for his leadership,” O’Connell said. “He’s one of my favorite players I’ve ever been around.”

That leadership will be key with the Vikings in the process of ushering in a new era in Minnesota. There has been a tangible shift within the roster, getting younger by moving on from Adam Thielen, Dalvin Cook and Eric Kendricks last offseason, then Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter this offseason.

There’s a chance Smith would have been lumped into that list of departing players had he not been willing to take a pay cut on multiple occasions. He did so because he feels a deep connection to the Vikings. Thus, as soon as he decided he wanted to delay retirement once again, Smith was motivated to get something done with the only organization he has ever known.

“He wanted to be a Viking,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said. “He loves Minnesota. He loves our fans. He loves playing at U.S. Bank Stadium.”

The creativity with which defensive coordinator Brian Flores weaponized Smith last season also played a role in him wanting to return. After being grossly misused under former defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, Smith looked much more like himself with Flores calling the shots.

“He’s a perfect fit in Brian’s defense,” O’Connell said. “Just from a standpoint of being a beacon of communication and getting back around the line of scrimmage to be impactful both in the run game and the pass game.”

There might need to be some concessions made by Smith next season after playing career-high 1,113 defensive snaps last season. That amount of playing time probably isn’t a recipe for success, so the continued emergence of young safeties Cam Bynum and Josh Metellus will be crucial in being able to deploy Smith with more intention.

“We’re not going to be able to play him as much as we did,” O’Connell said. “We want to use the depth of the safety group that we feel really strong about top to bottom there. We’re going to have to be really smart. I think we found a nice sweet spot of how we get Harrison prepared without taxing him too much that Sundays become too much as they stack on top of each other.”

Even if it looks a little different moving forward, as far as O’Connell is concerned, the fact that Smith is still playing is reason enough to get excited.

“Just the idea of getting to hear Vikings fans absolutely go berserk for No. 22 running out of the tunnel again,” O’Connell said. “To me, however long Harrison wants to play, I want him playing on the football team that I’m coaching.”

Related Articles

Vikings will keep Justin Jefferson involved in future plans at quarterback

Are Vikings ready to draft their next franchise quarterback? It sure seems like it

Minnesota native, former Gophers star Blake Cashman thrilled to be home playing for Vikings

Source: Vikings agree to terms with cornerback Shaq Griffin

Vikings star Justin Jefferson to be featured in newest Netflix series