In three prior articles, I identified a total of six players with contracts expiring after 2019 who could be in line for extensions soon. Now, I will conclude the series by briefly commenting on some other pending 2020 unrestricted free agents of note.
Chris Harris, Jr.
I’ve already covered his case here, and little of my opinion has changed since his recent pay raise. Harris’s contract will likely not be discussed again until the end of the regular season at the earliest, and assuming another outstanding season by him, the fundamentals will not change.
Connor McGovern
When the Broncos elected not to retain Matt Paradis, it gave the benefit of the doubt to Connor McGovern to be Paradis’s successor at center. However, he spent less than half of the season at that position, and he still has much to prove in order to follow through in filling the big footsteps left by Paradis.
McGovern, in my opinion, needs a full training camp and preseason to at least meet expectations before extension talks should be mentioned–and even then, not much more should be proper than a one year extension for not much more about $3 million, as a way to buy a little more time to see if McGovern can be the long term solution at the position. Currently, there is a decent gap between the two tiers of veteran center contracts with the latter starting a little over $4 million APY, hence my mention of an approximate $3 million limit here for McGovern.
Devontae Booker
Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman are the present and future of the Broncos at running back for the next three seasons. Booker is highly unlikely to have anything more than a third string opportunity in Denver from here on out. If he wants to (or the market forces him to) accept that role, for nothing more than, say, what Ronnie Hillman got on a similar extension, then that’s fine. But I think it would suit both the Broncos and Booker the best if looks to find a bigger opportunity elsewhere in 2020.
Casey Kreiter
He got a one year extension this offseason. I’m not sure what more he needs to do for the Broncos to get a multiyear extension. In any case, the future at long snapper needs to be addressed in some manner at some point.
Emmanuel Sanders
Unfortunately, it is still uncertain how Sanders will recover from his torn Achilles tendon back from December. Some of the details on his current contract that I laid out here still apply. We’ll have to be patient to see how his recovery goes, and until we get that information, it’s premature to discuss what his next contract should look like.