Could the Broncos, Chris Harris Jr contract situation end up in a trade?

The Denver Broncos opened up its offseason program on Tuesday without the presence of one if it’s top defensive players and leaders in the locker room: cornerback Chris Harris Jr.

Harris reportedly opted to skip the first day of team workouts to send a message about wanting a contract extension from the club.

But should things between Harris and the Broncos come to an impasse, could Denver opt to ship the All-Pro cornerback out of town?

“He’s got one year left on his deal. Extend me or trade me. I think that’s the message being sent,” said “Stokley and Zach” co-host Brandon Stokley on Tuesday. “And I think the Broncos are going to have to do one of those two things.”

Stokley said the Broncos aren’t likely to let the situation play out into training camp or the regular season, that they’re “not going to just call his bluff.”

“So, they’re either going to have to extend him or they’re going to have to trade him. And if they do trade him, guess what? The team that trades for him is going to extend him,” Stokley said.

“Schlereth and Evans” co-host Mark Schlereth pointed toward the recent Antonio Brown-Pittsburgh Steelers saga as an example of how the situation between the Broncos and Harris could play out.

Brown eventually landed with the Oakland Raiders after forcing a trade out of Pittsburgh this offseason.

“Either pay me what I am worth on the open market or trade me. Either give me a deal that’s commensurate with what I have done or let me go find one somewhere else,” Schlereth said. “Hopefully, it doesn’t get to this point. Hopefully, they find some common ground and find a contract extension.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.