Chris Harris Jr. rumors: 5 best fits in NFL Free Agency

1. Houston Texans

The Texans are on the long list of suitors for Harris. They also seem primed to turn over their cornerback depth chart, with the news they’ll allow Jonathan Joseph to hit the market and Bradley Roby set to be a free agent too. Vernon Hargreaves has been released, and Gareon Conley will be back for a full season in 2020 filling some sort of role.

The Texans are in the top half of the league in cap space right now ($52-$54 million, depending on the source), so they can pay up for some free agents as they add pieces to the roster.

Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus has pointed to a match between Houston and Harris, on a projected (and surprisingly reasonable?) two-year, $13 million deal.

Here’s what Treash wrote about the pairing.

“It seems likely that Chris Harris Jr.’s time in Denver is coming to an end. Harris moved to outside corner from the slot in 2019 and had the worst season of his career from a grading standpoint. Still, we cannot forget that he was the third highest-graded slot corner in 2018.

The Texans are a team in need of cornerback help in the slot and potentially willing to pay for the veteran’s services to contend. Among all 32 teams in 2019, the Texans were 32nd in slot coverage grade, where they surrendered a 122.4 passer rating.”

Harris was still better than a lot of perimeter corners last year, and he will bring versatility to the table. But moving back into the slot regularly would fit an area of great need for the Texans, and surely suit him well.