Al Harris loved being a Packer and we all loved him too. I've been in the same position he is in now, having to leave a job I didn't want to leave, and I felt the feelings of betrayal; even though I knew the fact of betrayal didn't exist.

Good Luck Al!

If BOTH Tramon Williams and Sam Shields aren't performing like they are, Al Harris isn't released.

If we don't have such shortage of bodies at the front 7, Al Harris isn't released.

I can see your point, and agree. I just thought that a)there would be someone else on the team that could have been left go, instead; or b)get a 7th from Detroit or ? (anyone besides MN) in trade. Make it conditional or whatever, but dictate his future to a greater extent.

MM had him studying because he would not have been cut if there had been a different injury. can't have him being activated and not know the playbook.

There are a lot of factors at work here. Harris, in the view of TT & MM, must not be enough of an upgrade in talent to sacrifice the developmnt of their young DBs, especially the emergence and growth of a very athletic Sam Shields. Age, the severity of the injury, the fact that the Defense is playing pretty good football contributed to the decision as well. Throw in the uncertainty about how Harris would handle being the dimeback on this team and what it would mean in the locker room & the fact that he could contribute little to special teams. When thought about logically, it's almost a perfect storm of circumstances that were working against Harris.

I appreciate his time in a Packer uniform and wish him the best!

I've had my ups-and-downs with Al. Fact is he plays a somewhat antiquated style of DB. His physical "bump" defense often resulted in a slue of penalties, the least of which (and most annoying) was the Illegal Hands To The Face. How many times did that cost us a stop last year? Half-dozen is an estimate. Don't get me wrong: Al Harris is the shit. He's a Packer Hall of Famer in my book.
But his inability to truly tackle (he's resorted to the "ride him down from behind like a rancher tackling a bull calf" technique) and maybe Tramon is just a better, faster, stronger corner at this point. Ain't nuthin' wrong with that.
Good luck (with anyone but the Vikings), Al.

- SP.

It's sad to see Al go, but he would have been buried on the Packers depth chart.

People forget that he was losing a step even BEFORE his injury...

I applaud this move. Is it sad? Yeah, it's always sad when one of our Packers heroes has to move on. But the "Youth Movement" going on for the past few years is definitely taking the Packers in the right direction for the future.

Al can still come back and sign a 1 day contract and retire a Packer.
I'll miss him, but at some point we've all been saying that eventually we need to find some younger DBs to start taking the banner and Williams and Shields are doing that.

Great post Aaron. Do you know of any player or players we have released before and it wound up bitting us in the butt?

I don't think Favre falls in that category because I for one feel like Rodgers is better than him.

Darren Sharper (obvious), Marco Rivera played ok with the Cowboys and Mike Wahle played very well with the Seahawks. Anyone else?

They just had Rob Demovski on 107.5 the fan here in Green Bay and HIS take on it seemed to be that with Al Harris being a very difficult player to deal with (I didn't realize this), that he wouldn't likely accept his role as the #4 CB on the team. That the team likely feared his lack of playing time could cause him to be a distraction in the lockerroom.

MM and TT didn't just go bat sh-t crazy this week. You just don't cut quality CB's in this league because they don't play ST's or you want develop Nick McDonald, Robert Francois, or Diyral Briggs. As always, they made a football decision that Al Harris wasn't going to be a good enough player going forward to justify a roster spot. It is disappointing and surprising but I trust their judgement. And Aaron is exactly right. If Harris goes on to play lights out for someone else then we can sure criticize them for a very poor post-injury evaluation of Harris.

I think what irks a lot of fans is the coach speak. They want a honest explanation. Fans think they deserve to be privy a complete and honest explanation. But, TT and MM just don't disparage players to justify a decision to fans or the media. If they cut him because they felt like he just wasn't good enough to be on the roster you will never hear that from MM and TT. You'll instead hear generalities like "There were a lot of factors" or "we crossed the Rubicon" or "We did what is the best interest of the Packers". It's just how they roll and I think players respect that.

Brilliant job of manipulating the public opinion by Al and Jack Bechta, intentional or not. I loved watching those rehab videos and the music was contageous. If this were somebody like the Lions, he would have created enough fan support to get brought back for $2-3 million a year. But alas, he does not factor into ticket sales or TV ratings for the Packers. Its just too much to pay a dime back, and unfair to Tramon and Shields that are ahead of him. There is still a possibility that he can clear waivers and re-sign for less as a free agent, remote as it seems.

And the Packers record prior his injury was what 4-4? And since 13-5?

It's hard to take, but it would have been just as hard watching Al come in as the dime back.

Ted does what needs to be done, like him or not.

My next biggest roster moves to watch are the LB, at the end of the year. Bishop/Barnett, Hawk/Chillar and Poppinga, I would bet only 2 of 5, maybe 3 will be back. Which ones? Right now I'm kinda liking the Bishop/Hawk combo, it's hard to argue the job they're doing. 2 years Barnett has been on IR. He just doesn't seem as stout for an ILB as Hawk and Bishop. What happened to Chillar? I just don't see him sticking to TE's like before?

I guess if he's ready to play as he suggests, letting him go is prefferred treatment to placing him on IR, where his career would essentially go up in smoke. GMs aren't jumping for what be a 36-year old CB who hadn't played in 21 months.

Lost in all the emotional hand-wringing is the dollars and cents aspect of this decision. When MM says it's not for "physical reasons", that's nothing more than code for "hey, if we don't have to pay an injury settlement, then why would we"?

"To which I can direct people." You participle is dangling.
Fact is Al has been breaking down. Last year he shredded his knee and the year before that he ruptured his spleen. Dude ain't getting any younger. Plus, our young guys can play.
Al has gotten lit up in big games in recent years. In big games against big WRs. Plaxico in the NFCC and TO in that game against Dallas where Rodgers came off the bench after Favre's injury.
Both Tramon and Shields are playing lights out.

As usual I disagree with you, Aaron Nagler.
"I think there's probably some truth to this, no matter what McCarthy says at the podium to the contrary. But I also believe McCarthy when he says they handled the situation as professionally as possible."
So which is it, you partially believe Harris and you partially believe McCarthy. You think there is truth to both sides, but then you, as many of you kool-aid drinkers do, contradict all of that and finish by saying, but I believe McCarhty when ha says they handled the situation as professionally as possible!
Really. Waiting until almost the last minute and during a bye week while the rest of the team is out of town, i.e. all the veterans who might be a bit disturbed of how this was handled??
You honestly think that was as professional as possible?? Again I totally disagree. And Al Harris turns 36 in December. Just a little fact you might want to note.
For one you give way too much credit and trust to a group who hire Ari Fleischer (SP?) to handle the spin of the Farve fiasco, and who wanted to offer him (Favre) $25 million over ten years to stay quiet and do PR for the Packers.
The reason Al Harris was let go was money. That is it. Bargain Basement Ted didn't want to pay the remainder of Harris's salary. They could have waited until the end of the season to have released him. It would have cost that much and he could have played nickel or the seldom used dime package. He wasn't going to win the starting CB position back from Williams, but with all the injuries and the presence of a former pro bowl veteran it surely couldn't have hurt the rest of the season. They have room on the roster and Starks looks to be headed for IR (another brilliant injured draft pick). We have all seen how many injuries we have had all ready. If or maybe I should say when someone else goes down on defense certainly seems reasonable to have someone like Al Harris in the rotation. Underwood has disappeared from view, Lee, a former second round pick, has been injured two of three seasons and is last on the depth chart, Bush is primarily a special teams player, not a great corner. And Shields this years TT poster boy. Well, if his play the other night was the deciding factor, seems pretty flimsy to me. John Kitna and the 1-6 now 1-7 Cowboys?? Sure Shields has been very serviceable, but good corners don't just come out of nowhere. Let's face it, Shields has only been playing the position for not even two full seasons. The added pass rush of Clay Mathews has helped everyone in the secondary, (which also would have helped Al Harris), and Shields has not been truly tested or picked upon by the best qb's in the NFL. And he has missed some games due to injury. Fact of the matter is A. Harris was a more expensive option, had not been truly tested against game time competition (so who knows where his knee was, some feel it takes over a year to really come back from that type of injury and others have come back sooner with good results) and they have been able to fill gaps all year with cheaper less experienced players. I do not think it was professionally handled, and yeah, for a guy who lacerated his spleen, then had it removed so he could come back and play for your team is a guy above all else that deserves being treated with more respect than TT and MM gave him. If that one game against Dallas was the deciding factor, then what a joke. What was the point in not cutting him at the beginning of the season? The real deciding factor will be the playoffs. That is when the best qb's rise to the top and will go after Shields. Capers will have to do his best to cover up that weekness. Veteran presence is good to have in your locker room, even if it were only for eight more regular season games. TT rarely seems to think so.

The end will justify the reason for this move.Keeping an "aged and less abilitied player" at the expense of younger,expanding players is detrimental for the now and tomorrows of Green Bay.

I'm estactic the TT and MM are not caught in the sympathy and afraid to make the cuts of long time players.I will also say again that DD is not long for this club.His extension was IMO,a signing only due to the insecurity at WR concerning JN and JJ,but DD has not shown he can dictate his spot even with the inconsistant play of JJ or JN.

I know that many are screaming the how dare you say that of DD,but fact is fact and we are need to move on and someone else will carry the torch for DD as he has for many years.

Now if I can only grasp why Bigby is still here. But I'm sure many will tell me.

Harris was guilty of a lot of bad in this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cYMZO2H2I

AND this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDt6xUUVd7Q

And then was hurt for large portions of 2008 and 2009. The guy is not the same guy he was when he was making Pro Bowls. Period.

I just can't get enough of such clever cliches as "kool-aid drinkers" and "Bargain Basement Ted!" MORE! MORE!
GIVE!
ME!
MORE!

It's not about the money - it's about the numbers. A team can only have so many players for each position. I have to these type of cuts and the worst person doesn't allows get cut.

This is more about how strong the Packers are at this position. I remember a few years ago when they had no one but the two starters.

I am a big Al Harris fan. I hope the Packers give him a position within the org after he retires. I would drive to GB to see him.

With the injury situation as it's been, he may be back at some point. Who can say?

KGB .... William Henderson .... Al Harris ..... There will no doubt be more ..... Younger, faster, stronger, & healthier has to be the emphasis ...... Sometimes it comes back to bite you but odds are still in your favor ......

As usual Aaron you make such a ridiculous response. How on Earth do I know, I guess the same way on Earth you know. I read the newspapers and follow the Packers with as much passion as you. The only difference is I disagree with you and your post. The whole thing revolves around how it was handled, i.e. "as professional as possible." IMO it was not handled as professional as possible. I do not believe as you do. I do not believe the coaching staff or management had to wait this long to make that decision. I do not think the way he practiced in the last three weeks was the deciding factor. If they thought he couldn't play, then he couldn't play. Why wait at all. Cut him three weeks ago. And if they needed someone else to fill in due to injury they have players on the practive squad. Bring them up. Fact is I was not in the room and nor were you. Your post is your opinion and I made a response to your opinion. I felt inclined to do so.

No, the staff didn't HAVE TO wait this long to make the decision. But why wouldn't they wait? Don't tell me we should have just let Al go earlier so he could go wherever he wanted because somehow "we owed it to him." I got so sick of the "we owed it to Favre to just release him" crowd that I never want to hear such nonsense again.

They waited because it was in the best interests of the team. Al was insurance in case 21, 38, 37, etc. blew out a knee against the Vikings, Jets, or Cowboys. But they didn't. It's business. It's life. Cry me a river.

And he goes unclaimed.

Whoa. Starks has been activated. Francois cut.

Au Revoir, Francois.

Whatever the reality, Al was a class act and I'll miss him.

People still thinking the "bribe" was just that? Yet claim to read every article in support of their team?

I guess they didnt read the Andrew Brandt article that said he went to Bob Harlan in Jan before the Giants NFCCG with the deal for Brett.

Then to have the sack to blame Ari Fliecher for the spin on things? But fails to understand the Brett camp spun things just as much if not more.

Gawd I can't wait till the book comes out

I really don't think you can simplify this down to the question of can he or can't he play. Yes the Packers saw his post-operative skills and none of us did. And I believe them when they say that it's not a physical thing.

But I think finances play a huge role in this. Can he still play? I have no reason to disbelieve MM's assessment. But can he be on the team when they have to absorb his salary? Probably not. Is his price too high for a dime back? Probably.

This is the only way that I can reconcile the idea that it's not a physical thing AND favoring Pat Lee and Jarrett Bush over Harris. If Harris can still play he's got to be better than Lee & Bush.

It's one thing to say that Harris can still play. It's another thing to determine that his play isn't worth his price. I think that's what's going on.