The Broncos have reached an agreement in principle with cornerback Chris Harris on a five-year contract extension, according to two NFL sources.
The deal will make Harris the league's highest-paid "No. 2" cornerback while the total value $42.5 million ranks sixth in the league.
It's a crowning achievement of sorts for a defensive back who received a $2,000 signing bonus from the Broncos as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2011.
The new contract that will run through the 2019 season includes a whopping $10 million signing bonus and $24 million in guarantees. It will pay Harris $18 million through his first two seasons the same two-year amount the Broncos are paying "No. 1" corner Aqib Talib.
The Broncos
opened negotiations with Harris last month, and at times it appeared the deal was on life support. Negotiations gained momentum when Broncos general manager John Elway became personally involved by engaging in dialogue with Harris' agent, Fred Lyles.
Among the points to address was whether to classify Harris as a "No. 2" cornerback or the best cornerback in the league.
Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the league's No. 1 cornerback this season with a 22.3 rating entering the Broncos' game Sunday at San Diego. New England's Darrelle Revis ranks second with a 19.5 grade, followed by Vontae Davies at 15.9.
Harris, 25, was ranked as the fifth-best cornerback by Pro Football Focus in 2012 and eighth in 2013,
so it's not like his performance this season has been a fluke.
Unlike the so-called "cover" cornerbacks such as Revis, Richard Sherman and Talib, Harris is a more versatile defender who starts out playing outside but often moves inside to the nickel position, where his instincts and tackling skills can be better utilized.
The deal is well-timed not only for Harris, whose wife, Leah, delivered their first child, daughter Aria, seven weeks ago, but for the Broncos, too.
This is a team confronting several difficult financial decisions on impending high profile free agents. As the Broncos get ready for another playoff run, the Harris deal sends a message to the locker room that management will reward its own.
Harris received the third-biggest extension Elway has awarded since 2011, following cornerback
Champ Bailey (four years, $43 million) and left tackle
Ryan Clady (five years, $52.5 million).
The $8.5 million annual average on Harris' deal exceeds that of Green Bay's Tramon Williams, who had been considered the league's highest-paid
"No. 2" corner with an $8.25 million average.
Among all cornerbacks, Harris' deal is 12th in annual average.
Harris is receiving the most total dollars in the history of undrafted cornerbacks: The $42.5 million exceeds the $39 million deal (over four years) the Packers gave Sam Shields.
After pulling off an upset by
making the Broncos' season-opening 53-man roster in 2011, Harris started his rookie year as a special teams player and the team's No. 4 cornerback. He was promoted to the nickelback role in his sixth game, and he became a starter early in 2012.
Harris' deal is further impressive in that he began this season
rehabilitating a partially torn ACL and he has yet to make a Pro Bowl, although if Pro Football Focus has any influence, a correction could be made in two weeks when the NFL announces its newest group of all-stars.
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