Bye Bye Champ

Dan Soden

Some teams get caught up in a struggle between loyalty and business, the Denver Broncos don’t see to be one of those teams.

After 10 years with the Broncos, Champ Bailey will no longer reside in the house that Elway built.

CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora broke the news earlier this week that the seven-time All-Pro cornerback would be released by the Broncos.

Originally drafted by the Washington Redskins in 1999, Bailey was dealt to the Broncos following the 2003 season for Clinton Portis. During his tenure with the Broncos he has been one of the better cornerbacks in the game, but injuries took their toll on the veteran this season. Bailey was only able to see action in five regular season games recording just 14 tackles.

Upon releasing Bailey the Broncos will be able to remove his entire salary off the books for this season. Originally Denver was looking at dishing out $9 million in base salary along with a $1 million roster bonus, but now the entire $10 million comes off the books for them.

As for Bailey, this will be his first time hitting the open market, unfortunately for him the market has a lot more fresher produce. Guys like Patriots Aqib Talib and the Colts Vontae Davis will headline the list of cornerbacks looking to get paid. But Bailey is no dummy.

Lindsay Jones of USA Today is reporting that Bailey is open to switching positions if that means landing on a worthwhile team.

“I just want to see what people will want me to do. My vision is to still play corner, but I’m a little more open-minded about the season I had last year.” Bailey said. “I’m a corner at heart. If a situation made sense to play safety, then I would consider it.”


We shall see if Bailey will need to make the change to safety or not, but even he knows that the move could extended his career, just ask Charles Woodson.

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