“Pay me or trade me.”
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris has asked for a trade if they won’t give him a new contract.
Harris is due to make $7.8 million in base salary in 2019, which serves as the final year of the five-year contract extension he signed in December 2014. Harris’ 2019 salary ranks outside the top 25 contracts for the season at the cornerback position despite being a four-time Pro Bowl selection and a first-team All-Pro in 2016. Meanwhile, the Broncos are paying Kareem Jackson an average of $11 million a season on the three-year deal he signed this offseason. Jackson has never made a Pro Bowl or award team during his nine years with the Houston Texans.
Broncos G.M. John Elway has said he has no intention of addressing the subject with Harris prior to the conclusion of the draft. At that point, he said Monday that “we’re going to talk about it. It doesn’t mean we’re going to do it.”
Elway then said he hasn’t even thought about the idea of trading Harris. However, the trade request may bring that scenario more toward the front of Elway’s mind.
Harris has not been taking part in any of the Broncos voluntary workouts as he has made his desire for a new deal clear. If that deal isn’t going to come from Denver, he wants the chance to get it elsewhere.