Roman Harper prefers returning to New Orleans Saints to being a coveted free agent
 

As a Pro Bowl player the past two years, New Orleans Saints safety Roman Harper would be a coveted free agent if a new collective bargaining agreement is reached, but he said Thursday he hopes to be back in New Orleans for the 2011 season.

"I plan on (being in New Orleans), but you never know how this crazy business will work," said Harper, who was the Saints' second-round selection in the 2006 draft. "It's not always up to me. I don't always get to make the decisions."

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Roman Harper prefers returning to New Orleans Saints to being a coveted free agent | NOLA.com

I would like for him to come back.

Loomis will re-sign Roman Harper. He is a hybrid SS/LB, and is the only one that we had on the roster. The Saints realize his value.

And to those of you who say he is not good in coverage, you are correct. I just think he does so much else well, that he is definitely worth not only having on the roster, but being a "starter."

Harper is perfect for our defense, once we get our LB issues ironed out, our blitzing will be awesome.

In all fairness Harper is perfect for our defense. Just think of this - harper gets atleast around 3 sacks a year from safety, he forced about 6 fumbles both of the past couple years and the guy can hit.

Everyone still remembers the last game vs hawks because they embarrassed harper bad in pass coverage, I know everyone aswell as myself was saying get rid of Harper at that point but hey everyone has bad days even drew did. The guy is versatile on the field and a solid player

I appreciate Roman Harper's loyalty and persistence. But the adversity that he persists through is just costing us too many points per game and too many games per season.

For the Lord's sake, he was RUN DOWN by a rookie quarterback that he had a five yard head start on!!!

He was BEAT for THREE... Count 'em THREE touchdowns against the Seahawks, and we ALL know that if we had struggled through that game we would still be World Champions!!!!

We simply have to cut our losses. It's business. If it were personal, he'd be in the Saints Hall of Fame.

Alaska

Sorry, Roman. Love you as a Saints fan loves a Saint, but...

You missed the previous 16 games, in which he received more game balls from Gregg Williams than any other Saint on defense.

He ran out of gas, plain and simple.

Also, I think he was the ONLY Saint to NOT miss a tackle on the Lynch run.

He will be back, I think he gets way to much blame for the Seahawks game. Sharper looked slow and lets not forget that almost everyone of our players could not tackle Lynch. Also the D could not get any pressure on the QB.

Also, there is not one other free agent or backup player that can replace him right now.

Bit of an exageration eh?

At 4 seconds, Harper is at the 5, Bradford at the 10

At 6 seconds, Harper is at the 20, Bradford is at the 22.

At 7 Seconds, Harper is at the 30, Bradford at the 29 (Harper has finally passes him)

At 11 seconds, you can see Harper start slowing down and looking behind him, gassed at Seattle's 40, this is actually when Bradford starts closing the gap.

At Seattle's 30, Harper is now carrying a piano and Bradford has closed to within 1 yard. This is when Harper starts to stop and turn OB.

At 20 seconds, Harper's pulling about 5 G's on the O2 mask.

So Bradford had the 5 yard head start and Harper passed him by 2 yards in a mere 20 yards.

If you're gonna hate on Harper, at least get the facts right.

I love Roman Harper. He hits hard and brings it every game(even bad games he's still brining it) He is one of the top tacklers on the team behind only Vilma I think. And he is a true team first guy with great community involvement who represents well when in public. His coverage skills will be tested next year. Let's just hope he is working on that phase of his game.

He'll be back he wants another ring.

Anything to build up confidence...

Excuses are like...He was run down by Sam Bradford for Pete's Sake; that's awful.

And those TD passes where Hasselbeck looked all world?!?

Evidence has been shown ad nauseumn from youtube and some people just wanted to bury their head in the sand to the fact he sucks or not admit, well...

The man can't cover and IS a liability to this defense.

By the way, what's up with all these pop-ups that are trying to come up?

And yet Gregg Williams gave him more gameballs than any other player on his defense.

Maybe Gregg Williams has too much sand around his eyes and ears?

I posted facts about that play, you did not. I'll take facts over opinions.

Fact: Watch the film, the actual game, and when Seattle scores the passing TD's, see who should be in coverage...

Exactly, Big Time...

Watch the other 16 games, the actual games.

So make up your mind. Does he suck or is he average?

I believe the man said we need an upgrade?!? FClueless

His exact quote...

Pay attention sport.;)

Fact is a large, lumbering rookie quarterback ran him down. I'm not hating on the man, just calling it like [I] see it. Isn't that what this forum is for? You disagree... No problem. If and when Harper shows up in a Saints uniform, I'll be tipping a beer and cheering for him as well.

Truth is we're blessed to have a defense good enough that we kick around what it would be like to part with a player like Roman Harper.

What I am concerned with is his speed and ability when it counts. In Seattle, IT COUNTED. Now he will return from an irregular offseason and I doubt that he will have picked up speed during that time.

Fortunately for the Saints, Danno, you and I don't make these decisions. [chuckle]

Cheers,
Alaska

I never said he wasn't run down. You said Harper had a 5 yard head start on him when in fact it was the exact opposite. I also call it like I see it, and the video evidence supports the way I saw it.

If Gregg Williams wants him, that's a decision I can live with. If Williams doesn't, I can live with that too.

When you say we could use an upgrade, there are alot of positions we could use an upgrade on. OT, WR, FB, and OLB could all also use upgrades. Do we have good players at those positions yes. Now Harper is are best choice at SS right now. There is no other 2011 FA that comes close to his ability. Did he get out run by a QB, yes...but give Sam some credit he is young and he is fast. Did he suck in the playoff loss yes he did...but so did the whole D. If you look at the top safetys in the league Harper is not far behind them, all safetys have bad games.

the overwhelming ignorance on this forum has amazed me in this thread. he got run down by a qb so he sucks? what about the play he made to get the ball in the first place? hes a liability in pass coverage? then why is he starting on our defense with so much talent in the secondary and how on earth is he a 2 time pro bowler? he has been our 2nd leading tackler since being drafted and has only missed a few games in his 5 year career. average at best? you guys are so ****ing spoiled that you cant remember 5 years ago when we actually had average safeties? what has come over this forum? talk up players that dont play and dismiss pro bowlers in an instant

another thing is that harper is getting blamed for not covering well when in reality our inability to stop the run up front forced him closer to the los and put him out of position to cover passes before the ball was even snapped. learn some football before you blame a game on one player