Sources: Broncos give CB Harris raise to $12M
Pro Bowl cornerback Chris Harris Jr, who told the Denver Broncos earlier this offseason that he wanted to be traded if he didn’t receive a new deal, got a raise in an adjusted, one-year contract he agreed to with the team.
The Broncos announced the new deal Tuesday night, and sources confirmed to ESPN that Harris will receive $12.05 million this season after being scheduled to receive $8.9 million. The financial terms were first reported by 9News.
It wasn’t the longer-term deal Harris wanted, but it keeps him in the fold for another year, and he could parlay it into the big payday he is looking for when he becomes a free agent after this season.
The ninth-year cornerback, who made the Broncos’ roster as an undrafted rookie in 2011, had been set to enter the final year of a five-year, $42.5 million deal he signed in 2015.
“We have a lot of respect for Chris as a player and for everything he’s meant to our organization,” president of football operations/general manager John Elway said in a statement announcing the deal. “This contract adjustment recognizes his value to our team and the high expectations we have for Chris as a Bronco this season and hopefully for years to come.”
Harris is a four-time Pro Bowler, a two-time winner of the Darrent Williams Good Guy Award (2013, ’18), the recipient of the team’s Ed Block Courage Award (2014) and the club’s 2017 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year.
The last remaining member of the “No Fly Zone” secondary that was the backbone of Denver’s Super Bowl 50 triumph, Harris is the only defensive back in the NFL with multiple interceptions in each of the past seven seasons.
The Broncos were 6-6 last season and in the playoff race when Harris sustained a hairline fracture in his right leg and missed the final four games, all losses. He returned to play in the Pro Bowl, where he recorded an interception.
Two weeks ago, when the Broncos’ OTAs began, teammate Von Miller spoke in support of Harris, who did not attend the voluntary workouts.
“Sometimes when you first get here they tell you that you play and you play well, they’ll take care of you if you do all of the rights. If you do all of the right things in the community and you do all of the right things on the football field, they’ll take care of you. Chris has definitely done everything and then some,” Miller said. “Whether it’s in the community with his foundation or on the football field, he’s always on the No. 1 receiver, he’s a top DB in the league. You want to take care of guys like that.”
Earlier this month, new Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell said Harris would fit the team’s new defensive scheme installed under new coach Vic Fangio whenever he arrived for the offseason workouts, minicamp or training camp.
“I think he’s really easy to fit in 11-on-11 football because he’s so competitive and so tough,” Donatell said. “He can win his matchups, and so we’re excited to get him back.”
The Broncos added two defensive backs in free agency, signing Kareem Jackson to a three-year, $33 million deal and Bryce Callahan to a three-year, $21 million deal.
ESPN’s Dianna Russini and The Associated Press contributed to this report.