The A.J. Bouye trade signifies the Denver Broncos are moving on from Chris Harris. If he goes to the Kansas City Chiefs, that would be a massive steal.
What are the chances Chris Harris suits up for a division rival next year?
The Denver Broncos made a huge trade on Tuesday afternoon by acquiring cornerback A.J. Bouye from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2020 fourth-round pick. Bouye had great success in Jacksonville, as well as his last year with the Houston Texans in 2016. This is an excellent pickup for the Broncos, but this could mean the end of the line for Harris in the Mile High City.
Shortly after the Bouye trade went down, Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu took to Twitter in an attempt to recruit Harris to the reigning Super Bowl champions. Harris had long played for the AFC West rival Broncos, but let’s think about this. Chiefs Kingdom has to be giddy about the potential pairing of Mathieu and Harris in the Kansas City secondary.
Harris is 31 years old. He is a four-time Pro Bowler and won Super Bowl 50 as a star on the Broncos defense. After going undrafted out of Kansas, Harris has spent his entire nine-year NFL career with the Broncos organization. This would essentially be going home, and playing on the best team in football.
At his peak, Harris was the best slot cornerback in football, arguably ever. It’s an underrated position, but Harris was proficient at it. In an increasingly pass-centric league, Harris became a superstar in Colorado as part of the “No Fly Zone” defense in Denver. Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has to be chomping at the bit to get a savvy veteran of his caliber.
Though the Broncos will offset losing Harris in free agency by trading for Bouye, Kansas City would be getting an incredible playmaker who knows every wrinkle of Vic Fangio’s defense. Look for Patrick Mahomes and Co. to exploit that even more. Harris could also be a key reason Drew Lock could struggle in Pat Shurmur’s offense when these two AFC West rivals meet.
Overall, the Chiefs get better if Harris puts pen to paper for Kansas City.
Repeating as Super Bowl champions will be challenging for the Chiefs, but perhaps adding a player like Harris could mix it up enough to help get Kansas City to Tampa next February.