Firstly, Harrison's % of snaps played at the Giants is pretty similar to his time at the Jets. It's more of a situational call than it is scheme-dependent; a 350lb man isn't going to be able to play every snap, and you're not going to put him out there on obvious passing downs regardless of the front.
1. Last year Harrison played 160 more snaps than what he averaged as a starter with the Jets. His snap % is even higher in 2017
2. The fact that you are putting him out there on the field less is exactly why the jets shouldn't value him as highly as a 4-3 team does.
NYJ
- 2013 - 45% (499)
- 2014 - 48% (485)
- 2015 - 54% (565)
NYG
- 2016 - 61% (673)
- 2017 - 63%
Secondly, % of snaps played is a pretty poor tool to use to determine player value. The importance of the player to your scheme, his role in it, and the ease with which he can be replaced in that scheme are the main considerations, and as hindsight is neatly demonstrating the decision to let him walk was not a good one. I don't really see how you can make any sensible argument otherwise.
Let me explain it in another context then. I'm using % of snaps played as a proxy for how useful the players skillset is to the team.
The more valuable a players skill set is, the more valuable he is to the team.
The more valuable a player is to the team, the more the team is going to be willing to pay him.
Below are the top 25 salaries of DTs in the league. The players listed in red play nose tackle for 3-4 teams
2017 Defensive Tackle Average Rankings1 Ndamukong Suh $19,062,500
2 Fletcher Cox $17,100,000
3 Kawann Short $16,100,000
4 Marcell Dareus $16,095,686
5 Gerald McCoy $15,866,667
6 Jurrell Casey $15,100,000
7 Malik Jackson $14,250,000
8 Linval Joseph $12,587,500
9 Michael Brockers $11,083,333
10 Geno Atkins $10,665,400
11 Brandon Williams $10,500,000
12 Mike Daniels $10,250,000
Corey Liuget $10,250,000
14 Damon Harrison $9,250,000 15 Johnathan Hankins $9,000,000
16 Bennie Logan $8,000,000 Dontari Poe $8,000,000
18 Kyle Williams $7,433,333
19 Nick Fairley $7,000,000
20 Haloti Ngata $6,000,000
21 Sylvester Williams $5,833,333 22 Chris Baker $5,250,000
23 Stacy McGee $5,000,000
24 DeForest Buckner $4,547,749
25 Derrick Shelby $4,500,000
Out of the top 25 paid Dts in the league only 2 are Nose tackles for 3-4 teams.
- Bennie Logan - A 1 year prove-it contract that is 14% lower than Harrison's yearly salary, not to mention $16MM less guaranteed
- Sylvester Williams - Contract is <6MM a year (37% lower than Harrison's) and is only guaranteed for $7MM compared to Harrison's $24MM
(You could argue Michael Brockers is now a 3-4 NT, but his deal was based on him playing in a 4-3 scheme which as you can see gets paid more)
Net-Net: 3-4 schemed teams historically don't shell out cash for nose tackles. The next highest paid nose tackles are Domata Peko (#30), Steve Mclendon (#31), and Corey Peters (#33) all of which make less than $3.8MM a year. You can disagree with my argument about value based on playing time, but contracts show 3-4 teams don't see the value in spending big money on nts. $9.25MM a year is way over market value for a 3-4 NT, even if its Damon Harrison, which is why letting Harrison walk was a good move by Mac.