Predicting the Contract Free-Agent DL Shelby Harris will Garner from Broncos

Shelby Harris is one of two unrestricted free agents the Denver Broncos would like to re-sign. The veteran defensive lineman tested free agency last year but didn't find any offers to his liking, so he returned to the Broncos on a one-year deal.

Harris arguably had to take on a larger role this past season after Von Miller and Jurrell Casey were lost for the season to injures early on. Harris missed multiple games while on the COVID-19 reserve list, as well as the final game of the season with a knee injury (though one that didn't require surgery), but he played well overall when he took the field.

Given that his knee injury wasn't serious, Harris should be in line for an extension — one that should pay him more than the one-year deal he had to settle for a year ago. But what would a new contract look like?

I've previously proposed a three-year, $30 million deal, which would give Harris a significant increase in pay. To articulate what I anticipate Harris will garner, I utilized Over the Cap's contract constructor, which allows you to get a visual of how a contract would be structured. The contract constructor allows one to create a sample contract for a player, then share the link with others.

Here is the link to the contract I created for Harris.

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The three-year deal gives Harris $12M in full guarantees and $20M in total guarantees. He gets a $6M signing bonus and a $6M base salary in 2021. His $8M base salary in 2022 is injury-only guaranteed and vests to a full guarantee on the fifth day of the league year.

The remaining $10M base salary in 2023 isn't guaranteed, and that comes at the point that Dre'Mont Jones will be in consideration for an extension. Because Harris will be 32 years old in 2023, it's possible the Broncos will want to move on at that point.

Still, the chance for Harris to earn $20M over the next two seasons would reward him for his play during the past couple of seasons.

Once again, readers are welcome to visit the page at which I created Harris' contract and adjust the numbers as they see fit. You can even add additional years to the contract if you wish.

I won't do contracts for every player who is set to become an unrestricted free agent, but as with Simmons, this gives you an idea about what a contract could resemble and lets you have the chance to adjust my proposal or create one of your own.

One thing I will add is that I don't expect Harris to get a deal for as many years as Simmons will get, in part because of his age and in part because he isn't elite at his position.

Regardless, if the Broncos want to keep Harris around, it's likely they'll have to do better than a one-year deal this time around.

Follow Bob on Twitter @BobMorrisSports.

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