Here’s why Shelby Harris and the Broncos are a perfect fit

Shelby Harris isn’t just one of the most disruptive interior defensive linemen in the NFL. He’s also a pragmatic, practical man who is a wizard in the kitchen.

Two days earlier, he agreed to a three-year, $27-million contract with the Broncos that includes $15 million in guarantees.

Big money. Life-changing money.

One can do a great deal with that windfall. Harris, devoted family man and accomplished domestic chef, wants to start by remodeling his kitchen.

“I was actually talking to my wife yesterday about renovating the kitchen,” Harris said, laughing. “Because, man, when we bought the house, the stove top is kind of not what we want. So we’re definitely going to hammer that one out ASAP.”

Harris can put that task in the fast lane on the highway. But his path to his reward involved taking the back roads.

Harris earned his three-year deal after going from a reserve-future signee in 2017 to leading the NFL in the rate of pass-rush snaps that result in either a sack or a pass deflection in each of the last two seasons.

It too a little time for Harris to grow and find his place in the NFL — not unlike the short ribs he prepared for dinner Wednesday.

“I make sure the meat is as tender and moist as you need it to be. It’s so good that you don’t need sauce,” he said.

The short ribs were main dish of a dinner that included mashed potatoes, pasta salad, asparagus and cheesecake for dessert. The ribs sat in the slow cooker for eight hours.

The result was amazing — like Harris’ last two seasons working in Vic Fangio’s scheme. After Harris posted 6.0 sacks and 9 pass deflections in 2019, it seemed like a big contract would come his way in 2020.

Instead, he returned to the Broncos on a one-year deal. Once again, he had to prove it. He wasn’t surprised at how his first foray into unrestricted free agency went last year.

“I was expecting some b.s. to happen,” he said. “But I’m happy it did happen, though, because it kind of rededicated me to everything.

“It’s not like I wasn’t dedicated before, but it just took me to another level intensity-wise, where I just set out to prove everyone wrong once again … man, it just paid off.”

The signature moment of his 2020 season wasn’t a deflection or a blocked field goal; it was chasing down Tyreek Hill in Week 13. Harris had just returned from a draining bout with COVID-19; his stamina wasn’t back to its normal level. But he still chased down perhaps the NFL’s fastest receiver.

Harris didn’t need that play to make an impression. But it put an exclamation point on his resume. With his 30th birthday coming this August, the time to cash in was now.

It was just a question of whether the check would have a Broncos logo on it. Until Monday, he wasn’t sure.

“Man, honestly, I really had no clue,” he said. “I had a good feeling that I could end up staying in Denver, but I think it’s been pretty clear I wanted to stay here this whole time. I didn’t want to leave. My family loves it here, and the Broncos made that possible.

“It’s so crazy just to think about everything that’s happened over my career to be at this point. I know how lucky and blessed I am to even be here.”

And now he’ll do his work under a new general manager, George Paton. While working for the Vikings, Paton witnessed a 3-sack game from Harris on Nov. 17, 2019 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Harris said he spoke with Paton just after the new general manager took the job in January. The two conversed again Tuesday.

“He seems like a real down-to-earth guy. This is about trying to win football games,” he said.

“I just feel like we’re going to try to change the culture. We’re going to try to actually build on all of our success that we’ve had — fix all the wrongdoing that we did last year. I think he’s the perfect guy for the job, and I think he’s going to come in and definitely put us in a good place.”

And now Harris gets to remain a foundational part of that work to fix the Broncos.

It might take some time, like short ribs in the slow cooker. But eventually, Harris, Paton and the Broncos believe they can get the meal right.

That’s Harris’ goal. Not individual honors … but team success.

“For me, honestly, I’ve always felt like I’m good enough to be All-Pro or Pro Bowl. Those are just my personal goals. I know I can achieve those,” he said. “But honestly, I just want to win. That’s all I care about.

“That’s why I wanted to come back so bad, because we’ve got something good here. I just want to win.”

MORE FROM HARRIS:

ON THE MESSAGE SENT TO THE LOCKER ROOM BY MULTI-YEAR CONTRACTS GIVEN TO HIM, GARETT BOLLES, BRANDON McMANUS AND MIKE PURCELL:

“I think it speaks volumes. It puts that belief into the locker room that if you go out there and you produce and you play well for us, you’re going to [get your] reward. And that’s what you need for every organization. You want your young players to feel like when they go out there and they bust their tails and they go out and make plays for you, that the team that they started with is going to reward them, and the Broncos have proven that.”

ON THE DESHAUN WATSON SPECULATION:

“You know, he’s obviously a great quarterback, and I’m not going to lie to y’all, everyone sees the rumors. You’re a liar if you’ve never seen them. But my thing is, honestly, Deshaun Watson would bring a whole different aspect to the team, but then also you lose the aspect that Drew Lock brings to the team, and that’s what I think people don’t realize. Just Drew’s swag, Drew — he’s growing up as a Bronco. I think that just does volumes in the locker room. Like, it just shows we’re willing to work with you. Things aren’t going to be amazing right away — like they weren’t last year. They weren’t amazing last year. All the young guys, they lost out on reps during the spring. Don’t get me wrong, yeah, we get a more experienced quarterback in Deshaun Watson in there, yes. But I still do believe in Drew Lock.”

ON WHAT LOCK DEMONSTRATED LAST YEAR TO SHOW HE COULD BE THE ANSWER AT QUARTERBACK:

“All I’ll say is, ‘Did you see the Charger game?’ Like, when the team is down double digits, 21 points, and you’ve got to put your team on your back. And that’s the thing. Drew’s not perfect, but that’s the quarterback that I see. It’s the one that is bringing us back [with a] fourth-quarter comeback. That guy. And obviously, it just takes reps, and he can be that guy all the time.”

ON THE OUTLOOK FOR OFFSEASON WORK:

“It’s funny, because I just asked my agent about that the other day. We have no clue. I have not heard a single thing. I have absolutely no clue … I’m really just sitting waiting to know — is it going to be virtual? Are we going to be supposed to come in? When are we coming in? We don’t know.”