The Athletic’s Vic Tafur says the Raiders plan to add a No. 1 corner in free agency to help ease the burden on the younger players they’re developing at the position.
Tafur confirms Broncos CB Chris Harris and Cowboys CB Byron Jones are two of the top targets.
Denver is expected to let Harris test free agency in two weeks, particularly after trading with the Jaguars for CB A.J. Bouye. The Raiders were one of five other teams expected to have an interest in Harris.
The Raiders have been linked to Jones earlier this offseason as well, as he’s widely regarded as the best cornerback available in free agency this year.
Harris, 30, wound up signing on with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas back in 2011. He has played all seven years of his NFL career in Denver.
Harris was entering the final year of his five-year, $42.5 million contract that included a $10 million signing bonus and was set to make a base salary of $7.8 million for the 2019 season when Denver signed him to a new, one-year, $12.05 million deal last offseason.
In 2019, Harris appeared in all 16 games for the Broncos and recorded 56 total tackles, one forced fumble, one interception and six pass defenses.
Jones, 27, is a former first-round pick out of Connecticut by the Cowboys in the 2015 NFL Draft. He played out the final year of his four-year, $8.601 million rookie contract, but the Cowboys elected to pick up his fifth-year option last year which cost them $6,266,000 for 2019.
In 2019, Jones appeared in 15 games and recorded 46 tackles, no interceptions, a forced fumble and six passes defended. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 14 cornerback out of 113 qualifying players.
We have both featured in our Top 50 – 2020 Free Agents list.
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