HEADLINES

Shelby Harris

Denver Emerging As Premier QB Destination

March 5th, 2022 at 6:15pm CST by Ely Allen

We wrote a bit earlier today on the Broncos being among multiple AFC teams who “have trade compensation lined up with the Packers,” in relation to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Well, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Denver has emerged as a prime location for many of the league’s veteran quarterbacks looking for a potential change of scenery.

The Broncos recently hired former Packers’ offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett to replace Vic Fangio, who failed to accomplish a winning season in three years with the Broncos. The former Green Bay staffer represents an obvious and strong connection for Rodgers. Should Rodgers decide to move on from the Packers, having a play-caller that he’s familiar with could add some allure to the Mile High City. Another intriguing aspect that could bring a star quarterback to Denver is the addition of former Vikings’ offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak as passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach. Kubiak just helped Kirk Cousins turn in one of his best seasons in Minnesota.

Hackett and company inherit an impressive roster posed to perform. The defense is comprised of veterans like outside linebacker Bradley Chubb, safety Justin Simmons, defensive end Shelby Harris, and cornerback Ronald Darby. There are a number of free agents that Denver would like to bring back like cornerbacks Bryce Callahan & Kyle Fuller, defensive back Kareem Jackson, inside linebacker Josey Jewell, and outside linebacker Malik Reed. Even if they fail to bring some of those names back, the Broncos saw impressive seasons last year for youngsters like cornerback Patrick Surtain II, linebacker Baron Browning, defensive end Dre’Mont Jones, and safety Caden Sterns. The list of defensive players above may not overwhelm you with stardom, but, together, the Broncos defense ranked third in the league in points allowed and eighth in the league in yards allowed.

In addition to a brand new offense and stacked defense, Denver boasts a nice array of young offensive weapons. An impressive receiving corps is led by veteran 26-year-old Courtland Sutton, young star Jerry Jeudy, and Tim Patrick, who has broken out a bit over the past two seasons. The Broncos also have two talented, young receiving tight ends in Noah Fant and Albert Okwuegbunam. Any quarterback looking to join in on the fun would potentially have the benefit of a two-headed rushing attack that was 79 yards short of a combined 2,000-yard rushing season. Running back Javonte Williams enjoyed a healthy dose of carries in his rookie season, and there is mutual interest in bringing back Melvin Gordon.

Rodgers is obviously a name to keep an eye on as the decision on his future in Green Bay looms on the horizon. He has said that he will let the Packers know of his intentions before the franchise tag deadline so they can figure out how to deal with free agent wide receiver Davante Adams. In addition to Rodgers, though, keep an eye out for Denver to make moves on other quarterbacks searching for greener pastures. Russell Wilson has long been rumored to be interested in moving on from Seattle, and Deshaun Watson is still searching for a new home.

Whether Rodgers, Wilson, Watson, or some other under-the-radar name, look for the Broncos to make a move for a star quarterback. If they are able to find the right fit, the move could bring them into contention for what could easily turn into the toughest division in football.

NFL Contract Details: Bolts, Griffin, Broncos

March 16th, 2021 at 3:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

With the tampering period in full swing, here are some of the latest contract details to emerge:

  • Chargers C Corey Linsley: Five years, $62.5MM. $26MM guaranteed, $13MM signing bonus. Linsley is due $26MM through 2022, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. Linsley’s 2021 base salary ($4MM) is fully guaranteed. His 2022 base salary ($9MM) is guaranteed for injury at signing; it becomes fully guaranteed if he is on the Bolts’ roster on Day 2 of the 2022 league year, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
  • Jaguars CB Shaquill Griffin: Three years, $40MM. $23.5MM fully guaranteed, Albert Breer of SI.com tweets. $12MM signing bonus, base salaries of $1MM, $11.5MM and $11.5MM. Griffin is due a $1MM roster bonus in 2023, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
  • Lions DE Romeo Okwara: Three years, $39MM. $14MM signing bonus, $20MM fully guaranteed. Another $5MM will be guaranteed by next March, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter).
  • Broncos DL Shelby Harris: Three years, $27MM. $9MM signing bonus. Harris’ $1MM 2021 base salary and $5.5MM of his $7.5MM 2022 base are guaranteed, Wilson tweets.
  • Patriots DB Jalen Mills: Four years, $24MM. $2.5MM signing bonus, $3MM base salary in 2021, $4.5MM in ’22. Williams will have $3.5MM of his 2022 base salary fully guaranteed, Breer tweets.
  • Panthers OL Cameron Erving: Two years, $10MM. This contract includes base salaries of $990K and $2.01MM, with Wilson tweeting a March 2022 roster bonus of $2.5MM is guaranteed.
  • 49ers CB Jason Verrett: One year, $5.5MM. $2MM signing bonus, $2.5MM base salary, $1MM in per-game roster bonuses. Another $1MM is available via incentives, Yates tweets.

Broncos To Re-Sign DT Shelby Harris

March 15th, 2021 at 3:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

For the second straight offseason, the Broncos reached an agreement to keep Shelby Harris in Denver. New GM George Paton will bring back one of John Elway‘s finds, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

A four-year contributor in Denver, Harris reached an agreement to re-sign much earlier than he did last year. The Broncos managed to land him on a one-year deal several days into free agency. Hours into this year’s legal tampering period, they moved to keep the interior defender off the market.

Harris’ new Denver deal will be worth $27MM over three years, Rapoport tweets. A nice payday for a former seventh-round pick who spent a year out of football before trekking to Colorado in 2017. Harris will receive $15MM guaranteed, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Set to turn 30 this year, Harris has expressed interest in staying in Denver for a while. He will return for a third season in Vic Fangio‘s defense.

A part-time starter under Vance Joseph, Harris has blossomed under Fangio. The 3-4 defensive end starter has become one of the NFL’s best pass deflectors, having swatted 16 passes over the past two seasons. He registered six sacks in 2019 but was limited in 2020, having contracted COVID-19. Harris did return down the stretch for the Broncos, who have now kept their top two free agents off the market. Denver was the first team to use its franchise tag this year, cuffing Justin Simmons for a second straight offseason.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/31/20

December 31st, 2020 at 5:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the minor moves from 2020’s final day:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

  • Placed on reserve/COVID-19 list: C Alex Mack

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

Shelby Harris Wants To Stay With Broncos

December 29th, 2020 at 5:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of the Broncos’ better acquisitions in recent years, Shelby Harris is winding down his fourth season with the team. The veteran defensive tackle would prefer to extend this run.

Harris unexpectedly re-signed with the Broncos on a one-year deal this offseason, doing so after a market did not form for the talented interior defender. While the former seventh-round pick will again seek the first notable payday of his career, he would prefer that offer came from the Broncos.

“Obviously it would mean the world,” Harris said of another (presumably more lucrative) deal to stay with the Broncos, via the team’s website. “My family loves Denver; I love Denver, and Denver’s done nothing but do right by me since I’ve been here. I love it here, but at the end of the day I understand it’s a business and so you got to be ready for everything. … I’ve had two of my kids here; this is home for them. So obviously Denver is a special place for me.”

The Broncos brought back Harris on a one-year, $3.25MM contract. Despite missing four games due to a positive COVID-19 test, the 29-year-old defender has notched a career-high 11 quarterback hits this season. One of the NFL’s top bat-down artists, Harris has added seven pass deflections to give him 16 over the past two seasons.

While the Broncos hoped to have Harris and Jurrell Casey team up on this year’s defensive line, the latter suffered a season-ending injury in September. The Broncos are projected to have nearly $20MM in 2021 cap space and can create $11MM in additional funds by releasing the longtime Titans standout. Of course, the Broncos’ 2021 payroll does not yet include a Justin Simmons deal. Considering Harris’ 2020 market, he would appear to command a midlevel deal in a year when the cap is expected to decline. Losing both Harris and Casey would make the defensive front an obvious need area for the Broncos.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/2/20

December 2nd, 2020 at 4:11pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Buffalo Bills

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Shelby Harris Tests Positive For COVID-19

November 11th, 2020 at 3:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shelby Harris missed the Broncos’ Week 9 game after he landed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list. But the veteran defensive lineman was out due to being a high-risk close contact. This week, he will be out because he tested positive for the coronavirus, Benjamin Allbright of KOA tweets.

The Broncos placed Harris on their reserve/COVID-19 list last week. He reported to the team his wife and children tested positive for the coronavirus last week, Mike Klis of 9News reports, but he did not receive word he had also tested positive until Wednesday morning. The Broncos quarantined Harris away from his family at a hotel last week; he did not travel to Atlanta for the team’s Week 9 game. He will miss at least Denver’s Week 10 game in Las Vegas.

Broncos defensive line coach Bill Kollar is not with the team due to contact tracing, per Klis, but the longtime Denver assistant has not tested positive (Twitter link). The Broncos have seen a few assistants miss time because of the virus, with running backs coach Curtis Modkins testing positive and O-line coach Mike Munchak and defensive coordinator Ed Donatell being sidelined for periods as well. GM John Elway tested positive last week.

After catching on with the Broncos in 2017, Harris re-signed with the team this offseason. The interior defender led the NFL in passes batted down last season and has eight QB hits this year. With Harris sidelined, the Broncos will be without each of their three starting D-linemen against the Raiders. Both Jurrell Casey and Mike Purcell are on IR.

Extra Points: Broncos, Ravens, Madden

March 29th, 2020 at 9:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It was a disappointing offseason for defensive lineman Shelby Harris, who ended up re-signing with the Broncos on a one-year deal worth $3.25MM. Harris is coming off a career-year where he started all 16 games and had a career-high six sacks and nine passes defended, so he was expecting a big payday in free agency. His market wasn’t what he anticipated, so he ended up back in Denver on a prove-it deal. Harris himself even used that language when explaining his thought process in a recent interview with Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link).

“Well, after the numbers weren’t what we wanted, I felt like let’s do another 1-yr/ prove it to prove I can do it again and be able to hit the market again next year or re-up with the Broncos. Just another chance to go prove myself,” Harris explained. The 28-year-old had previously expressed that due to his age, he felt like this was his one shot at a big contract. Harris came out of nowhere, and has been a nice success story. A seventh-round pick of the Raiders out of Illinois State in 2014, he appeared in only eight games his first two years and spent 2016 out of the league. He suddenly emerged as a part-time starter with Denver in 2017, and has been a key player for them ever since.

Here’s more from around the league on a quiet Sunday night:

  • After the Ravens’ deal for Michael Brockers fell through due to concerns over his ankle, they immediately started looking for defensive line help elsewhere. They ended up signing former Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe, and they were apparently interested in Ndamukong Suh before he re-signed with the Bucs. Now we’ve got word of one more defensive lineman they discussed, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets they were also talking with Mike Daniels. This is the first we’ve heard of interest in Daniels this offseason, and it’s not that surprising that the 2017 Pro Bowler’s market has been quiet given that his past two campaigns have been cut short due to injury. After getting released by the Packers last summer the Iowa product signed a one-year, $9.1MM deal with the Lions, but he ended up appearing in only nine games with two starts before landing on injured reserve. Now on the wrong side of 30, he probably won’t get too much guaranteed money wherever he ends up.
  • With the new CBA approved, every NFL player is getting one under the radar bonus. Players will now be sent their last couple of ‘Madden checks,’ which had been held back in a fund for a potential work stoppage, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Active players will get $17.6K for 2017 and $16.9K for 2018 for their participation in the popular video game, Pelissero reports, with $1K for practice squad players. The payments for the 2019 season will be sent out this fall, he notes.

Agent Notes: Suh, Thomas, Harris

March 29th, 2020 at 3:56pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Here are some updates on a number of players’ representation, all reported by Liz Mullen.

  • Ndamukong Suh chose not to sign with an agent prior to his most recent free-agency and instead represented himself when he agreed to a one-year, $8MM deal to stay with the Buccaneers (Twitter link).
  • Draft prospect Jeff Thomas, a wide receiver out of Miami, has decided to change his representation as we approach the home stretch to the draft. Instead of going forward with First Round Management LLC, he will be represented by Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey at Rosenhaus Sports (Twitter link).
  • Broncos defensive lineman Shelby Harris re-signed with the team on a one-year deal worth up to $3.25MM. However, that did not come before a recent game of musical chairs representing Harris. Ryan Williams of A1 NFL negotiated his re-up in Denver, but he had switched from the National Sports Agency to Rosenhaus Sports in January (Twitter link).

Broncos Re-Sign DL Shelby Harris

March 28th, 2020 at 8:15am CST by Ben Levine

Shelby Harris is returning to Denver. Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that the Broncos have re-signed the veteran defensive lineman.

Per Jhabvala, it’s a one-year deal worth a max value of $3.25MM, including $2.5MM in guarantees. Mike Klis of 9News in Denver tweets that Harris has $750K in per-game roster bonuses (a bit less than $47K per game).

After bouncing around the NFL for a bit, the former seventh-round pick has found a home in Denver. He’s appeared in every regular season game for the Broncos since 2017, and that includes a 2019 campaign where he started a career-high 16 games. In fact, the 28-year-old set career-highs across the board, including 49 tackles, six sacks, nine passes defended, and one forced fumble.

Despite the career season, Shelby found himself dealing with an underwhelming market, and Klis tweets that the veteran actually switched agents for the second time recently. A return to Denver seemed somewhat inevitable, especially after Shelby expressed interest in sticking with the organization.

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