Chris Harris Jr. gets a raise for 2019, holdout comes to an end

Chris Harris Jr. will reportedly get a raise in salary for the 2019 season, and some fans have mixed feelings about the salary bump.

Chris Harris Jr. wanted to get paid in 2019, and he was willing to hold out if he didn’t get the money he deserved.

After a stalemate, both Harris Jr. and the Denver Broncos finally came together on a deal that will end his holdout but has left some fans feeling a bit mixed about the salary he will be receiving.

According to Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, the Broncos and Harris Jr. reached a one-year “adjustment” for his 2019 salary. Per Klis, Harris Jr. will receive $12.05 million next season, a raise from the $8.9 million he was scheduled to get for the 2019 season.

In it, the Broncos will give Harris Jr. $650,000 just for showing up to practice the next day. Yes, you read that correctly: a pay bonus just to show up for his job. It gets better.

Denver will also give Harris Jr. $600,000 for reporting to training camp. So, if you’re scoring at home, the Broncos are paying Harris Jr. over $1.2 million more just to end his holdout.

Sounds a lot like a ransom payment.

When the deal was announced, fans had mixed reactions. Here’s a sample:

That last tweet was both hilarious and true all the same time.

Harris Jr. is an up-and-coming corner, but is he really worth $12 million a year if the team will wind up in the same boat as it did the previous year? While it makes sense that the Broncos want to hold on to their assets, but at the same time, how much that asset worth should play a role in if that player is really worth it. Especially when Harris is set to hit free agency in 2020.

We’ll see if Chris Harris Jr. is really worth the $12 million he’s getting next season. With four Pro Bowls to his name, the Broncos seem to think so. At the very least, they’ve solved their Harris problem just ahead of minicamp.