Florida football: Percy Harvin back in the NFL isn’t a bad thing

Sometimes you just get that itch to come back to something you left. That’s apparently the case for a former Florida football player.

It’s hard to walk away from the one thing you truly love, and a former Florida football player is having regrets.

Former electric wide receiver Percy Harvin seems to want to make a comeback to the NFL after being out of the league since 2016.

It seems that getting back into the NFL after an extended absence is going around.

Harvin recently made his thoughts known to ESPN’s Josina Anderson:

“I’m ready to return to the NFL,” Harvin said. “I thought I was done, but that itch came back. I’ve been training with a former Olympian. My body is feeling good. Mentally, I’m better. My family is good. The timing is right.”

And, of course, like every other player in the league, he told Anderson his dream was to play with Tom Brady — lighting up speculation that he could go to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — if he is able to return at all.

What happened to Harvin?

Harvin spent nine years in the NFL after his time with Florida football.

In that nine years, he was with Minnesota — who drafted him with the 22nd pick overall in 2009 — then Seattle, then the New York Jets and, finally, with the Buffalo Bills.

He played in 75 games, caught 353 passes for 4,026 yards and had 22 touchdowns — a majority of that coming in his four seasons with the Vikings.

But something happened when he went to Seattle. His game dropped off exponentially as he had just one catch for 17 years in his first season with the Seahawks. He had 51 catches in 2014 between Seattle and New York, but just one touchdown.

His final two seasons in Buffalo were certainly nothing to write home about as he collected just 21 passes and one touchdown before leaving the team after one start.

He was a star with Florida football, pulling down 1,929 yards of receiving and another 1,852 yards rushing in helping lead the Gators to a pair of national titles.

What about Tampa Bay?

Now the speculation is that he could join one of the teams favored to win the Super Bowl after the Buccaneers added quarterback Tom Brady and recently acquired tight end (and former Brady teammate) Rob Gronkowski in a steal of a trade.

Financially, the Buccaneers don’t have a lot of money to play with this off-season. Their signing of Brady and adding Gronk will cost them a pretty penny. So, if Harvin has eyes on big money, Tampa Bay isn’t going to give it to him.

The second is that it’s risky for an NFL general manager to take a shot on a player who’s been out of the league for four years.

I’m not saying that Harvin returning to the NFL is bad or that it can’t be done. I actually think Harvin still has some left in the tank and could be a huge asset to a team looking for a deep-threat wide receiver.

Tampa is but see the money issue above.

Could Harvin make a return? Of course, he could. Would it be a good thing for him? Again, of course, it would.

But I only see a season of potential for Harvin at this point until he proves me wrong with what he does on the field.