Getty ImagesWith the salary cap increasing only minimally next season, several veterans have been handed their walking papers this week to allow teams to purge their salaries from the roster.
Players have been released in order for teams to get under the salary cap or to allow for greater flexibility to work with this off-season. However, Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey is not going to be among those suddenly finding themselves on the street.
According to Mike Klis of the Denver Post, Bailey will be a member of the Broncos next season and will not be released.
Bailey is scheduled to make $10.5 million in 2013 with $9.5 million in base salary. Bailey started 15 games in 2012 and racked up 66 tackles with two interceptions on the year. Next season will be his 15th season in the NFL and 10th with the Broncos.
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Champ is cooked. It’s over buddy
Great player well past his prime….Raiders will eat him up..thanx for staying!
“According to” is really not a reporter quoting a source from the Denver front office, but could just be speculative opinion. Not sure what the news is here…….
Dude was abused last time we saw him play!
Crazy to think he has been a bronco for 10 years he was a great redskin
Great news. Champ was the anchor all of the ’12 year and will be again in ’13. Had a bad playoff game, but age and speed were not the problems, he actually out ran Smith on one TD and just made a bad play on the ball.
But he’ll be known as Former Champ Bailey.
All AFC qbs rejoice!! did balt send him a super bowl ring, he played a big part in thier super bowl run. Hes the only reason denver lost. and iam a cowboy fan so not makin excuses
ONE bad game overshadows his great season… He must have “lost a step” since he shut down baltimore in week 15?
Does this mean that for only 1M they can keep him til sept?
The Ravens must not be on the schedule for next year
I love all of the people judging one of the best corners to ever play the game on ONE BAD HALF…. ONE. He gave up ONE touchdown all regular season. How many did all other CB’s in the league give up. He also shut Smith down the rest of the game. It must be jealously that he doesn’t play for your team. If he hit the open market, I guarantee you teams would line up to sign him. But then again, those are the people that actually KNOW football.
Love him, but he’s done.
Paired up, Bailey and Harris allowed a combined 929 yards to receivers in 2012, the fewest total among any duo in the NFL last season, according to ProFootballFocus.com. He had 1 bad game still top 3 in league
^^^Agreed! He definitely has lost a bit of a step and could benefit from a move to safety tho. Would be nice to pick up Revis and champ make the move.
Per PFF, Bailey gave up 0.82 yards per coverage (fourth-best in the NFL) and Harris allowed 0.91 (ninth-best). Quarterbacks posted a dismal 66.5 passer rating when throwing against Harris, who was also the second-highest rated run defending cornerback.
U people who talk watched maybe 1-3 games he’s played this year…..I’ve seen him his whole Career Champ is still one of the best.
When I suck at my job it costs me money. Maybe Champ should give the Broncos a kick back for that game against Baltimore.
This is great news………………….for every other AFC West team.
Champ got chumped in the playoffs. Flacco abused him and Champ is the reason the Broncos went 1 and done
He was one of the best cb’s I’ve ever seen while in his prime, he’s still better than the average corner. Worth 10.5 million this year? I don’t know. I guess if that’s what the market dictates, I know revis wants like 15+ but that’s another conversation. Ultimately, champ is worth whatever they are willing to pay for him, and he’s still a solid piece of the defense and, like mentioned earlier on this site, Denver is trying to win a Super Bowl in the next few years while Peyton may still be capable of leading a Super Bowl team. Keeping him around for the same reason to keep clady – continuity. Not to mention that they are probably amongst the top 5 players on the team.
Torrey Smith likes this.
News flash, it’s nearly impossible to cover Torrey Smith one on one without safety help. Blame Del Rio for that, not Bailey. He’s been on an island all year, and for the most part has been shut-down.
He is still a top 10 corner.
Love how Denver fans stand up for him. He lost more than one step, and the past couple years he had to hold onto WRs who would burn him. He gets away with it cause Refs won’t throw flags at a former great player.
The Chump is done, this is great news for the rest of the AFC West.
His last game was TERRIBLE. He gave up two touchdowns and would have given up a third if Flacco didn’t overthrow the receiver. At minimum they need to give him some safety help over the top next year. I love the guy, but he’s slipping.
Toasty McBurnt.
Done.
most people are prisoners of the moment champ was the #4 ranked CB this season and let in one touchdown all regular season
Still a top 15 corner in the league. I would take him on the Pats. I’d take a top 40 corner on the Pats.
Champ will be a champion next season. He’ll then retire. Baltimore played great and Champ is not above getting beat from time to time. Who is?
When your pass rush disappears, your secondary will be abused. That is what happen to the Broncos in the Playoffs.
Champ is done, now that QB’s know he can be beat deep they will test him over and over again. 15 or somewhat years in the league, his speed has diminished some.
Die hard broncos fan here and I would like to see champ come back but he’s not worth 10.5 million I’m assuming there gonna work something out…
jimboslice1
Ike Taylor did it. When Taylor went down, Keenan Lewis pretty much did it, too, although they might have kept a safety over the top for him. Couldn’t tell but Smith basically caught nothing in both games.
The guy is fast, but he’s not impossible to cover.
At this point, him staying is not going to hurt Denver, but that salary will. They need to get some youthful
legs in there at that position.
CB’s are plentiful this year in free agency, so I can’t imagine Bronco’s paying $10m for the kind of production he had last year. As someone else said too – he was “used and abused” in the playoffs.
Truly unbelievable it is to read all these posts hating on Champ. I mean c’mon, its just laughable.
Not only did what happen to Champ in the playoffs against Balt happen to every single team on their SB run (IND, NE, SF) but Champ is hardly to blame for the loss. Even after his missed plays DEN has the game won if Rahim Moore or Tony Carter stay with Jacoby Jones on the game tying hail mary.
Champs stats were ridicuous good this season and he played amazing even while “losing a step” so anybody who says otherwise failed to watch 30 seconds of his play in 2012-2013 season.
Champ was not the only problem vs Baltimore. He got toasted but, pressure on Flacco was much more The Problem. He sure as heck did not step up and lead the way a guy getting thin at the tooth should have and I hope he has a problem with that in the same manner the fans do. The Broncos will be OK if they have half the bitter taste as the fans do after what happened in OUR HOUSE!