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A former Las Vegas Raiders defensive back is making a comeback. The San Francisco 49ers announced on November 28 that they are signing Erik Harris to the practice squad.
Harris is 33 now and hasn’t played all season after spending the last two years with the Atlanta Falcons. Prior to that, he was with the Raiders for four seasons and was a team captain during his stint.
Harris has been a good success story as he went undrafted in 2012 but played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League before the New Orleans Saints signed him in 2016. His longest stint was with the Raiders where he started 30 games across four seasons.
Harris now joins a 49ers defense that is only allowing 15.5 points a game, which is the best in the NFL. He’s only on the practice squad for now but could work his way to the active roster due to his experience. He has yet to play in a playoff game in his career so that could change this year if he can stick around with the 49ers.
Antonio Pierce Talks Marcus Peters Move
The writing was on the wall for Marcus Peters after getting benched by the Raiders in the second quarter of the Week 12 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. His tackling woes and lack of effort on many plays were too much for the team to overlook.
Peters is a three-time Pro Bowler and is from Oakland, California, where the Raiders used to play. Despite having all that going for him, he couldn’t make it through a full season with the team. Benching and cutting Peters was the hardest move interim head coach Antonio Pierce has had to so far and he had nothing but good things to say about the cornerback following the news of his release.
“Me and M.P. had some good conversations throughout this entire process,” Pierce told reporters during his November 27 media availability. “I was the linebacker coach when he first got here. On and off the field, [he’s] somebody I respect as a person. I respect what he’s done in this game. He’s professional, but it’s a business. We’re all going to get cut. We’re all going to get fired. Get hired to get fired, right? So he understands that. I understand that. It’s part of business that we all hate for ourselves.”
At 33, it remains to be seen if Peters will continue trying to play football.
It Wasn’t Easy for Antonio Pierce to Cut Marcus Peters
Antonio Pierce is learning on the job right now as he only has a season and a half of NFL coaching experience. His only head coaching experience was at the high school level, which is far different than coaching professionals.
Cutting a big-name player like Marcus Peters wasn’t an easy thing for him to do.
“Yeah, it’s always difficult when you have to release a player,” Pierce said. “That conversation, I don’t look forward to. Hate it. Hate it. It’s not good. It’s not a good feeling.”
It sounds like the two sides left things on good terms but cutting Peters does show that Pierce is capable of making tough decisions if he were to get the full-time head coaching job.
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