Instead of RFA tender safety Erik Harris signs 2-year deal with Raiders

Thursday the Raiders put tenders on three of their restricted free agents. Friday, they tore one of those tenders up. Instead of Erik Harris signing his original round tender, the safety and special teams maven signed a 2-year deal with the team, a source said. This deal was originally reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport early Friday morning.

The tender would have paid Harris $2.025 million on a one-year deal. His contract pays him a guaranteed $2.5 million for this season with a maximum of $6.5 million over two seasons.

This deal is good for him and the team because if the 29-year-old plays well again this season as he did late last season, they will have him for another season at essentially the same price. Obviously it’s good for him because he gets a slight bump this year and potentially another year.

The former CFLer will be entering his fourth NFL season, his third with the Raiders. Last season he appeared in all 16 games, earning his first four NFL starts and collecting his first and second career interceptions.

Harris has a great story working his way to the NFL ranks. You can read that here. He also spoke to us on the Silver & Black Pridecast this offseason about continuing his momentum from last season. The Raiders have a need at safety, both to start and as depth and Harris will be right in the mix to retain that starting job next season. You can listen to that below.