Two weeks ago, before the start of legal tampering or NFL Free Agency, the Denver Broncos decided to decline tendering DL Jonathan Harris, a restricted free agent before the start of the league year. This meant Broncos HC Sean Payton had the option of placing the right of first refusal on the incoming fifth-year veteran but chose not to do so, spelling the end of his career in ‘The Mile High City.’
On Thursday night, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported that the Miami Dolphins signed Harris to a one-year deal.
The 27-year-old was an undrafted free agent from a small FCS school Lindenwood, and spent time with the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings before joining the Broncos as a rookie in 2019. Harris lingered on the practice squad and non-football-injury list for a few seasons before earning reps in the starting defensive lineup last season under DC Vance Joseph.
In 2023, the six-foot-five, 296-pound DL had a career year starting in five games and accounted for 43 combined tackles, four QB hits, and one sack in 529 defensive snaps.
The former Broncos part-time starter will now have an opportunity to compete for starting reps on a new-look Dolphins defense that resigned Da’Shawn Hand in addition to signing Benito Jones and Neville Gallimore.
Harris departs a Broncos interior DL room that includes Elijah Garcia, Jordan Jackson, and newly signed free-agent Malcolm Roach, who’s been reunited with Sean Payton from their New Orleans Saints days while Zach Allen and Matt Henningsen are listed as DEs.
Not to mention DL D.J. Jones, who was initially thought to have been on the trade block for Denver, with reports now suggesting that the Broncos intend to hold on to the former 49ers run stuffer.
While the move is hardly a surprise for Broncos Country, it sheds more light on the current rebuild that Payton’s team faces, specifically in the defensive trenches. The expectation for additional DL will likely be met in tandem between the thick of free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft next month.
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