Despite a recent visit and an immediate path to playing time, Shelby Harris decided against a second stint with the Denver Broncos.
Instead, the veteran defensive lineman joined the Cleveland Browns on a one-year contract, the team announced Thursday. The Score's Jordan Schultz reported the deal is worth up to $5.25 million.
An ex-Raiders castoff, Harris made a name for himself across five seasons (2017-2021) in Denver. He started 49 games, recording 117 solo tackles, 34 tackles for loss, 44 quarterback hits, 21.5 sacks, 25 pass deflections, and three forced fumbles.
In 2022, nearly one year to the day after inking a $27 million extension, the Broncos traded Harris — along with quarterback Drew Lock, tight end Noah Fant, and a bevy of draft picks — to the Seattle Seahawks for QB Russell Wilson. Harris started 14 games with the Seahawks but was cut this past March and languished on the free-agent market.
The Broncos hosted Harris in late July on an "exploratory" basis, though the interest never culminated beyond that.
“We brought him in, and that would be it," head coach Sean Payton said on July 29. "He’s living here locally, so it was pretty easy, and we felt like it was worthwhile. We’ll probably have a few others that we look at bringing in, but nothing other than that. We’ll kind of go from there.”
Harris would have been an easy fix to repair Denver's gaping hole at defensive end opposite big-ticket acquisition Zach Allen. The club's first unofficial depth chart, released Wednesday, listed former undrafted free agent Jonathan Harris as Allen's bookend.
Perhaps for good reason.
“He’s a guy who has opened some eyes a little bit," Payton said of Harris on Aug. 4. "It was a good play. I think it’s harder for that group just because we are just getting going. We are getting into the inside run periods, and we are getting into these team runs. So far, I think he’s done a good job.”
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