With a deal done, what’s next for Chris Harris Jr. and the Broncos?
May 28, 2019, 6:43 PM | Updated: 9:21 pm
The Broncos finally sealed the deal. On Tuesday, it was revealed the Broncos and cornerback Chris Harris Jr. came to an agreement on an adjustment of his 2019 salary.
Instead of making $8.9 million this year, Harris is going to earn $12.05 million from the Broncos instead. No extension was agreed upon, so Harris is going to be allowed to hit the open market in 2020.
Harris is signed, but that’s just one step. There’s more to come. What next for the Broncos?
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Versatility is the Name of the Game
First things first, the Broncos will have to see how the pieces in the secondary fit around Harris. He will be playing in a revamped secondary with fellow veteran Kareem Jackson. The Broncos signed Jackson to a three-year, $33 million deal this offseason, but where he’s going to play is a bit of an unknown.
Jackson revealed a couple of weeks ago at a press conference that he has mostly been practicing at the safety position with just a little bit of time at the nickel corner spot. Perhaps that changes now that Harris is back in the building.
It would make a lot of sense for the Broncos to play Harris and Jackson on the outside. Sometimes, Jackson could play the safety position, close to the line of scrimmage, but he’s still capable of playing outside corner at a high level.
The “No Fly Zone” doesn’t exist anymore, but Harris and Jackson give the team an outside corner combination they haven’t had since Aqib Talib was traded away.
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Slot or Outside?
The team signed slot corner Bryce Callahan earlier this offseason, but they may believe he can be moved around the formation the way that Harris and Jackson can. I don’t think that’s the case, as Callahan has always been a slot-only corner.
The Broncos should get quality play from Callahan as a slot corner, but there are some concerns.
Mainly, the injury history for Callahan should be the team’s biggest worry about their new cornerback. Callahan has never played a full 16-game season in four years as a pro. If Callahan is banged up again, Harris could easily transition back to the inside where he could play just as good – or perhaps better than Callahan.
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The Future
This adjusted payment for Harris is good for him, but it means this could be his last season with the Broncos. That means the team is looking to a future in 2020 that most likely won’t include Harris. Sure, they could use the franchise tag on him, but that price could climb towards $15 million annually – and it would only be a one-year deal.
Without Harris in 2020 and beyond, the Broncos have to find the next man up.
That’s likely to be Isaac Yiadom, the Broncos third-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Yiadom came out of Boston College last year and was known as a smart player who always seemed to be around the ball. His length and athleticism helped him as a standout corner and as a special teams player.
As a rookie in 2018, Yiadom played sparingly and only started one game. Yiadom played only 244 snaps in 2018 and ended up missing one game (Week 15 against the Browns) with a separated shoulder. He did return for the final two weeks of the regular season playing through the injury.
In January, Yiadom had surgery to repair his shoulder and has been on the road to recovery ever since. Yiadom had some work to do in man-to-man coverage from his film at Boston College and last year in the pros. However, he looks outstanding when playing in zone concepts – something that Vic Fangio’s defense is known for.
The future without Harris could be quite unusual, but if Yiadom develops and fits into the system – as he should – then the sting of losing Harris to another team will hurt less.
