When James Harrison was cut by the Steelers and cleared waivers in December, it was reasonable to think he might have hit the end of the road: At 39 years old, could he really have much left?
It turned out that he had enough left that the Patriots picked him up and not only played him, but made him a starter and a three-down player, not just a situational pass rusher. Boston Sports Journal reported that there’s a “reasonable chance” of Harrison returning to the patriots for the 2018 season, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t.
Harrison isn’t quite the same player he was a decade ago, when he was a perennial Pro Bowler. But he showed in New England that he has a lot more left in him than the Steelers seemed to think. And Harrison has said he wants to play not only this year, at age 40, but probably next year at age 41 as well.
So if Harrison wants to play, and the Patriots thought he was good enough that he was a starter after arriving late in the season, there’s no reason to think he won’t be a Patriot in 2018. New England can have a 41-year-old quarterback in Tom Brady, and a 40-year-old pass rusher in Harrison.