NFL: Roman Harper - 4 years 28 mil

[mdrake34]

Grantland write up of Harper in playoff game:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7466...off-action
Fortunately for Whitner, though, he got to play against Saints safety Roman Harper. Yes, the same Roman Harper that allowed three touchdowns to the Seahawks in the wild-card game last year. Harper had a mostly-miserable game, but we'll just focus on the two big plays to Vernon Davis on the final drive as a summation of what Harper had to offer on Saturday.

First, the 47-yard pass to Vernon Davis with 40 seconds to go. Davis lines up standing upright just outside of his standard spot as a tight end, and the Saints send free safety Malcolm Jenkins to go cover him at the line of scrimmage. Jenkins is a former cornerback, but Davis is going to be a tough matchup for him up at the line. Sure enough, Davis gets a free release and runs past Jenkins immediately, giving him a clear path downfield. Harper's deep as the lone safety in centerfield, and while he has no hope of getting to Davis to stop the completion, he can limit the bleeding by making a tackle on Davis. With Jenkins chasing him and the clock running out, the obvious play is to force Davis to the sideline. As the last line of defense, though, it's Harper's job to make sure that Davis doesn't get by him; if he can just slow Davis down, Jenkins should be able to catch up and help out with tackling the far bigger tight end. So what does Harper do? Well, he stands still and decides to try and grab Davis by the ankles as he runs by the safety. Great idea! Davis skipped right past Harper for 22 additional yards.

Of course, Harper was also in coverage on "Vernon post", the passing play that produced the game-winning touchdown for the Niners. The play is designed to occupy the linebackers long enough for Davis to cut in ahead of the safety, where Smith will hit him with a well-timed pass before the safety can get in to make the play. If Harper recognizes what's coming and sniffs it out early, he intercepts Smith's pass and wins the game. Instead, he was a fraction too late, and the collision of Harper and Davis left Harper lying in a heap on the floor. He was basically just posterized by a tight end in the end zone during the biggest game of the season. It's not quite as egregious as Harper's first mistake, but it sure looked a lot more painful.