Denver Broncos: Chris Harris Jr. says QB situation will impact FA decision
The Denver Broncos have a promising QB in rookie Drew Lock and CB Chris Harris Jr. says that this will play a factor in his decision during free agency.
Denver Broncos star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. is expected to test the free agency market in the new league year in 2020. Most people expected this to be the case after the two sides could not agree on a long-term contract extension—the team gave him a pay raise though.
While Harris Jr. is expected to test free agency, there seems to be a stronger possibility of him staying in Denver long-term.
The reason? None other than 2019 second-round pick, quarterback Drew Lock, who went 4-1 since taking over as the starting quarterback following a long recovery from a thumb injury.
This shouldn’t be a huge surprise. The Broncos have not had a decent/reliable quarterback since Peyton Manning. They have gone through a bunch since winning the Super Bowl. From Trevor Siemian, Paxton Lynch to Case Keenum and Joe Flacco, Harris Jr and the rest of the Broncos have had enough.
It was recently reported that the Broncos did offer Harris Jr. a contract at the trade deadline but the cornerback declined it.
It is also worth noting that he recently switched agents.
Denver has some difficult decisions to make when free agency begins in 2020. Along with Harris Jr., the Broncos will need to decide on whether to keep players such as DEs Derek Wolfe and Adam Gotsis, NT Shelby Harris, and one of the bigger names on the defensive side of the ball: safety Justin Simmons.
Unfortunately they cannot keep all of these defenders as the players want to get paid as much as they can. There is just not enough money to go around to all of them.
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The Broncos should do everything in their power to retain their star cornerback. While Harris Jr. has been planning on hitting free agency, we may still get to see him in orange and blue in 2020 and beyond and a big influence in him staying could be their new starting quarterback.