Champ Bailey did not create a stir here the way another top cornerback did over there.
Darrelle Revis, the New York Jets’ best cornerback, was a training camp holdout Sunday even though he has three years left on a six-year contract.
Bailey, who is in the final season of a seven-year deal, showed up with his Broncos teammates Sunday. “Why would I hold out? It’s not like I’m making pennies this year,” he said. “What would I hold out for?”
Bailey is making $13 million this year. Revis will make $1 million, but he has already collected the bulk of his rookie contract money.
Ordinarily, players of Bailey’s elite stature — he is a nine-time Pro Bowler — have their contract restructured well before it expires, especially when there is such a high salary on the back end.
“The funny thing is, I was trying to think of somebody who made it through their whole deal like this,” Bailey said. “Usually, they either get a new deal or they get cut. It’s rare to play it out like this, I would think.”
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is in the final year of a $99.4 million contract he signed in 2004, the year Bailey got his $63 million contract from the Broncos. But hundreds of well-paid players don’t see the end of their big-money deals.
The Broncos had an exploratory discussion about a contract extension for Bailey, but nothing recently. General manager Brian Xanders has been busy finalizing contracts for Denver’s drafted rookies and a $58.332 million extension for star pass rusher Elvis Dumervil.
“We would expect that shortly we will have an understanding of whether he will be continuing to play there or moving on when the season’s over,” said Jack Reale, Bailey’s agent.
Bailey had no problem with the team taking care of Dumervil first.
“Heck, no,” Bailey said. “He’s a guy who’s coming into his prime. We know what he means to the team. He’s a great guy — if he wasn’t a great guy, maybe I’d wonder why are we spending money on this guy? But he’s such a great guy and great player that he deserved every single dollar he got.”
Fields forever.
Don’t kick Ronnie Fields out of the starting lineup yet.
He was a 16-game starter at nose tackle last year, and, with newcomer Jamal Williams nursing a knee injury, Fields lined up with the Broncos’ first-team defense Sunday.
“Still here,” Fields said. “Still a workday to me.”
Whatever disappointment Fields may have felt when Denver signed Williams away from San Diego with a three-year, $16 million contract in the offseason, he’s over it.
“He’s somebody I can learn from,” Fields said. “He’s played 12 years in the game. He’s a Pro Bowler. He’s accomplished things I hope to accomplish in my career. I take it as a positive that he’s a guy that can help me reach my goals.”
Footnotes.
Williams missed both practices Sunday after being placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list late last week. The former Charger was spotted going in and out of the team’s weight and cardio facility. “He’ll come out when he’s ready, when it’s good for him,” defensive coordinator Don Martindale said. . . . Lined up against every offensive player, Tim Tebow won every postpractice conditioning sprint by a wide margin. Mike Klis, The Denver Post
