Football is a brutal sport. When one player gets injured, the next guy has to step up, and their replacement has to be ready. It is an unfortunate part of the business, but a brutal reality of the sport we all love.
The Green Bay Packers absolutely rolled past the Chicago Bears over the weekend, a dominant 31-7 thrashing in this season's first rendition of the NFL's oldest rivalry. The win came at a cost, though, as Green Bay lost Javon Hargrave to a season-ending injury.
One week after Edgerrin Cooper tore his Achilles tendon, Hargrave would suffer the same injury late in the contest.
Losing Hargrave is tough for multiple reasons. For starters, he has a lot of experience in Jonathan Gannon's defense. He also made a solid start to the season, finding himself as a top-15 interior defensive lineman in Pro Football Focus grades, despite missing Week 2 against the New York Jets.
Was he going to be named a Pro Bowler this season? Probably not, but he was a key presence anchoring Green Bay's defense.
The Packers have some internal options they can call upon in the immediate future. Anthony Campbell made the roster after an incredible training camp and preseason performance but has been a scratch in recent weeks with an ankle injury. The team also has David Blay Jr. on the practice squad.
There is an option the Packers have already had in the building but couldn't sign due to NFL rules: Zxavian Harris. That is now a real possibility again.
Zxavian Harris is available again, and the Packers should make a move
Over in the college sports world, there has been a lot of conversation about eligibility stemming from the NCAA's decision to overhaul its rules. After over a century of the standard of four years of eligibility, the post-pandemic world saw athletes, in some cases, become eligible for six or seven years.
Starting this fall, athletes will get five seasons of eligibility, beginning at either college enrollment or their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
In the fallout from this decision, numerous college athletes who had only played for four years and would have graduated this past spring wanted to continue their collegiate careers rather than move on to the professional world, whether in sports or the workforce.
It certainly wasn't the top players who were looking to return for their graduate season. Rather, it was fringe players who were not guaranteed to make a big-league roster.
Zxavian Harris went undrafted in this spring's NFL Draft and, after being ranked as ESPN's top undrafted player, signed a deal with the New Orleans Saints.
New Orleans ultimately waived him during training camp, as he intended to return to college after being granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA, allowing him to play. The only wrinkle was that he intended to transfer to follow Lane Kiffin to LSU, instead of returning to Ole Miss.
Instead, because Harris signed a pro contract, even though he didn't play a regular-season game, it was ruled that he was no longer eligible to play college football. Likewise, the NFL initially determined that he was not eligible for an NFL roster because he returned to college.
In that ruling, since he had already gone through the draft process, he would not go through it again and would simply become a free agent at the end of the league year.
That is, until an announcement on Monday afternoon that the league had determined that Harris did not practice with LSU and indeed would be eligible to sign with any team, as reported by Tom Pelisero of The Ringer. The initial decision came one day after the Packers hosted Harris for a workout back in September, a decision that the NFL had elected not to punish Green Bay for, since, at that point, it was only that he couldn't sign with teams.
How would Zxavian Harris fit in Green Bay?
On the field, it is easy to imagine. At 6-foot-8 and 330 pounds, Harris was initially projected to go as early as the second or third round in the 2026 NFL Draft. He has shown an incredible balance of size, speed, and power, with versatility to play nearly anywhere on the line.
In his final season with Ole Miss, Harris started all 15 games, recording 58 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks, an interception, three pass breakups, and one of six career blocked kicks. The Saints would ultimately waive him prior to the start of preseason games due to his intention to return to the NCAA.
While no one is questioning his on-field talent, it was a pair of arrests while in college that gave NFL teams pause this spring, leading him to go undrafted. In 2023, Harris was arrested for a DUI, among other charges tied to the incident. Then, prior to the 2024 season, he was arrested for domestic violence and obstructing arrest, initially being removed from the program.
Ultimately, though, he did not miss any game action in 2024 or 2025 and was never formally convicted on the charges.
Harris has already had a workout with the Packers, and the timing could be right. Harris would not be subject to discipline from the NFL since the alleged incident occurred during his time in college. However, given the seriousness of the allegations and Green Bay already facing backlash amid the Josh Jacobs arrest, the Packers may end up passing on the rookie.
Don't be shocked if the Packers bring him in once again, though. They have worked him out once and need depth. Brian Gutekunst and Co. likely have done their homework extensively in both the lead-up to the draft and this fall. If all that checks out, Green Bay has another option at defensive tackle.
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