As it turned out, Champ Bailey probably took less than market value to stay with the Broncos.The four-year contract the Broncos gave Champ Bailey is the richest ever for a cornerback who is past 30 years old.
Bailey will turn 33 in June and will be 36 in 2014, the final year of his deal.
The industry will report this as a four-year, $43 million contract (he can push it to $47 million with incentives like Pro Bowl appearances, which in Bailey's case are hardly unreachable) with $22 million guaranteed.
Here's how it breaks down: Bailey will receive a fully guaranteed $11 million salary in 2011, $11 million in 2012, and $10.5 million in both 2013 and 2014.
The first week of the 2011 season will trigger a
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guarantee worth $4 million for 2012. Bailey's remaining $7 million salary in 2012 will be guaranteed against injury, and it will become fully guaranteed on the fifth day of the 2012 league year. Bailey just finished a seven-year, $63 million contract with the Broncos. So the new deal, on average, represents a $2 million-a-year raise.
Still it took some loyalty, and not a little forgiveness, for Bailey to accept the deal. Although structured differently, the Broncos also had a four-year, $43 million offer on the table for Bailey in October, when Josh McDaniels was in charge of all things football at Dove Valley.
But before Reale could get back to the Broncos to discuss the latest offer, the team abruptly rescinded their proposal.
It was not a nice way of doing business. Bailey could have tested the free-agent market where besides a few more million dollars, he might have also found a team closer to the Super Bowl than the Broncos, who tied for the NFL's second-worst record last season at 4-12.
"One thing I've learned is, the grass is not always greener," Bailey said by conference call. "You can look at an organization that looks like they're ready but they're not ready. And then I'm miserable because I'm around a lot of unfamiliar faces in an unfamiliar place.
"I thought about that. I thought about being on the market but all in all, it didn't really take me to forgive them. There's new people in charge there. I know I could have got something worked out once Josh McDaniels left. And things did work out didn't they?"
The team and its star left cornerback reached an agreement today on a four-year, $43 million contract, with around $15 million guaranteed.
Bailey, 32, took a pay cut to stay. He will make a guaranteed $11 million this season, or $2 million less than the $13 million he made in 2010.
"The commitment and loyalty that Champ has shown to the Broncos, the city of Denver and this region is exemplary," stated John Elway, the Broncos' vice president of football operations, on Twitter.
Bailey also has $4 million of his 2012 money guaranteed for a total guarantee of $15 million.
The Broncos could have kept Bailey off the free-agent market by placing a $15 million franchise tag on him, so the team essentially got him for four years at the same guarantee as he would have had for one.
With other cornerbacks such as Nnamdi Asomugha, Darrelle Revis and Charles Woodson making more in annual average salary, Bailey showed that after playing seven previous seasons with the Broncos he was willing to take a hometown discount to stay rather than try for a bigger contract in the open market.
Bailey has earned 10 Pro Bowl appearances, a record among NFL cornerbacks. He has picked up six of those Pro Bowls in his seven seasons with the Broncos.
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
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More photos of Champ Bailey. (Getty Images)
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