Bill Parise, the agent for former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, has been a busy man ever since his client was released on Saturday. Parise has already let the Cleveland Browns know on Sunday that Harrison would love to play for them and now the Baltimore Sun reports that Parise says Harrison is interested in joining the Baltimore Ravens as well.
“Baltimore would be a great fit for James,” Parise told the paper. “They\’re a contender and a class organization, so James would definitely be interested. I would think they would have a need with the market for (Paul) Kruger.”
Two teams down and 29 more to go. By the time the free agency signing period rolls around Tuesday evening, Parise will have likely informed every team that plays a 3-4 defense, or has played the 3-4 defense, in the last 10 years that his client is interested in playing for them.
According to the report, the Ravens have not said whether or not they reciprocate interest in Harrison. As I noted Saturday night, Baltimore is busy trying to retain their own unrestricted free agents right now and they don\’t appear to have a lot of cap space to work with. Even wide receiver Anquan Boldin is being asked to take a pay cut in order to stay.
Should the Ravens wind up losing outside linebacker Paul Kruger, which is entirely possible, Harrison perhaps could be a fallback option for General Manager Ozzie Smith, but you would have to wonder if he would want to pay more than $3 million for his services.
Harrison was signed by the Ravens early in 2004 and sent to play in NFL Europe for the Rhein Fire. He was eventually released by the Ravens and wound up back in Pittsburgh with the Steelers where he played the last nine seasons.
There is no word yet as to whether or not Parise has let the defunct Fire team know that Harrison is interested in playing for them as well.
We will keep you updated as Harrison Watch 2013 continues on.
