Thread: Broncos will have to deal with Bailey decision

Broncos will have to deal with Bailey decision
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
POSTED: 06/23/2010 01:00:00 AM MDT
UPDATED: 06/23/2010 11:43:06 AM MDT


Champ Bailey has 28 interceptions with Denver and 46 in his NFL career. (Tim Rasmussen, The Post)
Imagine a Broncos defense, struggling as it has the past four years, without its future Hall of Famer at left cornerback.

It could happen as soon as next season unless the Broncos work out a new deal with Champ Bailey, who is in the final year of his contract.

"Are we disappointed the Broncos have not approached us about a contract extension? Obviously, we are," said Jack Reale, Bailey's agent. "A player of Champ's caliber deserves to have the option of an extended contract. This is a guy who essentially was a six-time Pro Bowler (if not for an injury in 2008) in his six years there. Anyone with any kind of football knowledge knows his skills have not diminished, as evidenced by the fact he didn't allow one touchdown in 80 passes thrown his way last year, played in 98 percent of the snaps and remains one of the best-tackling cornerbacks in the game."

Move over, Elvis. Broncos owner Pat Bowlen's pencil pushers will have to get creative if they want to keep both star pass rusher Elvis Dumervil and Bailey beyond the 2010 season.

Dumervil, who led the NFL with 17 sacks last year, recently signed his one-year, $3.168 million restricted free-agent tender for the 2010 season but is hoping for a multiyear contract north of the $12.5 million annual average of the league's top 10 pass rushers.

Bailey is finishing up a seven-year, $63 million contract that will pay him $13 million in roster bonus ($3 million), workout bonus ($500,000) and salary ($9.5 million) this year.

However, Dumervil needs the NFL and the players union to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement before he gains the leverage of unrestricted free agency.

CBA or no CBA, Bailey can sell his services to the league's highest bidder at season's end.

"We hope the Broncos come to us sooner rather than later about a contract extension before the die is cast in another direction," Reale said. The Broncos had no comment.

To those concerned

that Bailey, who turned 32 on Tuesday, is getting old by cornerback standards, consider the Broncos have another 32-year-old cornerback — Andre Goodman — who has four seasons left on his contract.
What could help the Broncos in their negotiations with Bailey is his willingness to convert to safety in another two or three years, much as Rod Woodson and Troy Vincent did at the end of their NFL careers.

With safety a lower-paying position than cornerback, the Broncos may be able to work out a four- or five-year extension with Bailey at less than the $13 million he would make this year.

Bailey's best statistical seasons were in 2005, when he all but carried the Broncos to a 13-3 record and the AFC championship game, and 2006, when he combined for 19 interceptions including playoff games, 401 interception return yards and two touchdowns.

Bailey's interceptions have declined since; opposing quarterbacks rarely threw in his direction during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He was tested more frequently in 2009.

Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_15354803

Best of luck to you Champ. If it doesnt happen thanks for the great years.

oh great now i gotta worry about champ.
i think the timing of this statement is no coincidence.
champ just said the other day that "we need dumervil" and i think this is his way of showing support for his teammate.
not a bad thing,but man i dont like where this could be headed.
i hope the FO gets the deal done with elvis before this turns into another offseason where all the headlines are bad news.

I dont know if there is a direct correlation with Doom but the fact that both of our biggest playmakers are in contract years is concerning.

Character issues Nuff said

do y'all not get it there is only so much money to pass around.

we were under the old cap in 09 by about 10 mil.

where are you going to get the money to resign all of the players without cutting somewhere.

there is no cap this year and lots of money will be cleared from olf deals from both mikeys and Xmans contracts for players no longer here, that was all money spent paid out in bonus but just spread out over the contract years..

the players get 60% of the clubs revenues under the old contract that will have to be lowered in the next CBA or there will be clubs going under.

the owners in most cases did not just have a spare billion laying around to buy the franchise most had loans of some sort to pay off for the purchases.

They also have other expenses than players contracts, lights and water, rent for their building or mortgages if they own them, salaries for the rest of the staff. medical bills and equipment. not to mention a little profit for their investors/ shareholders.


this is not a hobby for most of the owners where throwing some more cash at buying a new motor to the model airplane that crashed. it is a business that has to remain viable. I repeat there is only so much money to go around, IIRC the new DL is costing about 12 mil a year, where should that money have come from the one tree that so many of you seem to think there is.

just think of making out a budget for your household and getting by then to have extraordinary expenses come up like the freezer burning up and runing all the food in it.

Do you have to find away to replace all of that food and Freezer inside your income?

the owners do also.

Originally Posted by jhildebrand

Character issues Nuff said

He's been pariah since the day he arrived.

Jr, while agree that paying doom 10-12 mil a year is too high.i have no idea what the broncos have offered. therefore i can't make a rational judgement of which side has caused the apparent stand off.
however i think i heard recently that the average profit for an nfl team is around 35 mil a year,thats average...and the broncos are probably above that as they have a pretty strong following .
i'm not saying they have stoopid money.but most teams have a few "high dollar" guys .
and the fact that we paid our qb 700,000 last year and will be paying 2.? mil this year makes me believe the teams payroll is pretty low by industry standards.
i think i will look into it for some facts.
brb

Year / Total Payroll
2009

Team Total Payroll
New York Giants $ 137,638,866
Miami Dolphins $ 126,855,921
Houston Texans $ 122,573,860
New Orleans Saints $ 121,552,424
Chicago Bears $ 120,672,110
New York Jets $ 120,168,770
Pittsburgh Steelers $ 119,604,460
Arizona Cardinals $ 116,701,866
San Diego Chargers $ 115,264,155
Green Bay Packers $ 114,597,569
Carolina Panthers $ 112,738,038
Buffalo Bills $ 111,956,066
Oakland Raiders $ 111,527,250
Baltimore Ravens $ 109,200,157
Tennessee Titans $ 109,025,090
San Francisco 49ers $ 107,746,232
Washington Redskins $ 105,049,071
Jacksonville Jaguars $ 103,558,989
Philadelphia Eagles $ 102,490,815
Denver Broncos $ 102,043,735
Indianapolis Colts $ 101,203,115
Minnesota Vikings $ 99,806,040
New England Patriots $ 97,565,413
Detroit Lions $ 95,963,320
Atlanta Falcons $ 95,492,002
Cincinnati Bengals $ 94,591,308
Cleveland Browns $ 93,932,182
Dallas Cowboys $ 90,650,939
Seattle Seahawks $ 89,075,820
Tampa Bay Buccaneers $ 84,501,322
Kansas City Chiefs $ 83,187,156
St. Louis Rams $ 62,384,821

Wow....look what the rams spent....no wonder they only win 2 games a year

though i realize this could not include unsigned rookies etc... it does seem Pat should have some dough to throw around

Year / Total Payroll
2010
NFL Teams Total Payroll
NFL Oakland Raiders Team Salaries $ 152,389,371
NFL Dallas Cowboys Team Salaries $ 146,401,600
NFL Minnesota Vikings Team Salaries $ 133,354,045
NFL Cleveland Browns Team Salaries $ 131,916,300
NFL New Orleans Saints Team Salaries $ 131,531,820
NFL Pittsburgh Steelers Team Salaries $ 128,815,061
NFL Tennessee Titans Team Salaries $ 126,017,443
NFL Arizona Cardinals Team Salaries $ 122,110,110
NFL Jacksonville Jaguars Team Salaries $ 122,109,207
NFL Chicago Bears Team Salaries $ 120,065,819
NFL San Francisco 49ers Team Salaries $ 118,766,239
NFL New York Jets Team Salaries $ 116,910,097
NFL St. Louis Rams Team Salaries $ 116,677,660
NFL New York Giants Team Salaries $ 115,816,180
NFL Miami Dolphins Team Salaries $ 114,649,660
NFL Buffalo Bills Team Salaries $ 113,364,927
NFL Carolina Panthers Team Salaries $ 112,114,711
NFL Washington Redskins Team Salaries $ 111,963,684
NFL San Diego Chargers Team Salaries $ 111,813,340
NFL Cincinnati Bengals Team Salaries $ 109,727,880
NFL Philadelphia Eagles Team Salaries $ 109,557,398
NFL Houston Texans Team Salaries $ 108,445,418
NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers Team Salaries $ 104,329,311
NFL Seattle Seahawks Team Salaries $ 102,985,710
NFL Atlanta Falcons Team Salaries $ 96,391,525
NFL Detroit Lions Team Salaries $ 95,827,117
NFL Denver Broncos Team Salaries $ 95,599,778
NFL Green Bay Packers Team Salaries $ 94,018,300
NFL Indianapolis Colts Team Salaries $ 93,373,915
NFL New England Patriots Team Salaries $ 92,734,120
NFL Baltimore Ravens Team Salaries $ 90,713,965
NFL Kansas City Chiefs Team Salaries $ 83,623,776

I love Champ. However, he could be much more useful to us playing center field ala Rod Woodson later in his career. If he'd be willing to do that I think I would try harder to do an extension. If not, we always have Alphonso Smith.

Originally Posted by Slick

I love Champ. However, he could be much more useful to us playing center field ala Rod Woodson later in his career. If he'd be willing to do that I think I would try harder to do an extension. If not, we always have Alphonso Smith.

I say trade him to a contender and let the man get what he was promised here.

Originally Posted by jhildebrand

I say trade him to a contender and let the man get what he was promised here.

Well, if there is one thing that McD is good at right now it is sending players to places they wanna be. Its like the "make a wish foundation" when it comes to McD.