Yes, Harrison Smith definitely considered leaving the Vikings this offseason for Cincinnati or one of the other suitors believed to have had interest in the six-time Pro Bowl safety had the salary cap-strapped Vikings been forced to release him.
"I thought about it for sure," he said Tuesday. "It's human nature. I think about other things and other places. So, yeah."
But, in the end, however, Smith said, "it felt right to stay." Even when staying meant taking a pay cut from $14.7 million to $8 million with $2 million in incentives.
Smith said there wasn't one particular reason he stayed but did add that playing for and learning from new defensive coordinator Brian Flores was "honestly a big draw in staying here.