Five months after he went public with his displeasure over non-existent contract negotiations and three months after he agreed to a re-worked contract for this season, Broncos cornerback Chris Harris was sitting at his locker before practice Friday.
The question: Is he surprised to still be with the Broncos?
“Yeah, a little bit,” he said. “I definitely thought I was moving on. But this is how things work. You never know whatap going to happen. You take it week by week and itap a long season and then everything from the season will play itself out for next year.”
Beginning Monday in Oakland, Harris, who turned 30 on June 18, has 16 chances to prove to the Broncos or another team he remains a Pro Bowl-caliber player and therefore merits a long-term contract.
For Harris, an ideal scenario would have been signing a contract of 4 to 5 years to finish his career with the Broncos. But when general manager John Elway had no interest in that, the stalemate didn’t end until right before mandatory mini-camp, when Harris signed a new one-year deal to bump his salary up to $12.05 million.
If any acrimony bubbles under the figurative surface, Harris isn’t letting on. He said he’s “definitely moved on,” and, “I’ve been working and getting on the same page as the coaches.”
It made sense for the Broncos to give Harris a raise to make sure he was settled in before training camp.
Entering Monday, the Broncos’ cornerback situation is iffy.
Kareem Jackson, a former cornerback, has stayed put at safety.
Bryce Callahan didn’t play in the preseason (foot) and was limited in practice throughout this past week. Plus, even though he played the “nickel” for Chicago — and coach Vic Fangio — last year, he stayed outside during camp. And Isaac Yiadom is a second-year player with no NFL nickel experience and De’Vante Bausby is also an outside-only cover man.
“It probably isn’t (much different), from where you’re going to see (Harris) line up and all that,” Fangio said. “We’re playing different things than he’s been used to playing — different coverages and responsibilities. But with (the media’s) eyes seeing him line up, itap going to be very similar.”
One of those wrinkles is likely more zone coverage. The only player with at least two interceptions in each of the last seven years, could that mean more takeaway chances for Harris?
“Definitely,” he said. “We’ll see how (Fangio) mixes it up. You can go through practice, but you never know how a coach is going to call a game.”
Chances are, though, that Harris will be called upon to make a bunch of plays.
Against Pittsburgh last year, he was targeted 11 times. He allowed seven completions (including three for 18 yards by Antonio Brown, who was released by the Raiders on Saturday), but only one gained more than seven yards and Harris also had an interception.
Asked about Harris last week, Carr said Harris is “at the top of the list,” of cornerbacks in the league.
“Chris is someone who has made countless plays against me,” Carr said. “The plays that we’ve been able to make on him have been tight, tight-window throws. He does not get near the credit he deserves. In my opinion, Chris is a Hall of Fame cornerback. The numbers don’t lie. The guys he’s been able to lock down for the number of years he’s been able to do it, he gets credit from me because I think out of all the guys I’ve been able to play against in this league, he’s right up there among the best.”
If Carr was a general manager, Harris would be in for one final big pay-day in March. But a good start against Carr could begin to convince the Broncos that they need to Harris around for many more years.
