The New England Patriots clearly have high hopes for undrafted Arkansas linebacker De’Jon “Scoota” Harris.
The Patriots signed Harris to a three-year contract with a $15,000 signing bonus and $140,000 total in guarantees, according to a source. To put that in perspective, the Patriots signed undrafted Auburn wide receiver Will Hastings to a three-year contract with a $7,500 signing bonus and $57,500 total guaranteed and undrafted Washington cornerback Myles Bryant to a three-year contract with a $5,000 signing bonus and $50,000 total guaranteed.
To put it in further perspective, Patriots 2019 seventh-round pick Ken Webster only received $74,576 as part of his rookie deal. So, Harris has twice as much money guaranteed as a 2019 draft pick. Sometimes it pays to go undrafted.
The Patriots previously have signed tight end Andrew Beck and linebacker Harvey Langi to undrafted deals with $115,000 in guarantees.
Harris is undersized at 6-feet, 234 pounds, but he ran a 4.69-second 40-yard dash with a 7.06-second 3-cone drill, 4.32-second short shuttle, 33.5-inch vertical leap and 9-feet, 3-inch broad jump.
He had over 100 tackles in each of his last three seasons with the Razorbacks. He registered 26 total tackles for loss in his college career with 7.5 sacks, nine pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles.
Harris compares to Elandon Roberts as an undersized downhill thumping linebacker.
Hastings played at Auburn with Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham. He showed impressive chemistry with Stidham in 2017 but tore his ACL before the 2018 season. He returned in 2019 but his production dropped. He stood out with an ultra-quick 4.03-second short shuttle and 6.55-second 3-cone drill at his pro day. He ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds.
Bryant projects as a slot cornerback at 5-foot-8, 183 pounds. He ran a 4.02-second short shuttle, 6.81-second 3-cone and 4.62-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
