DENVER—Could Champ Bailey’s days in Denver be numbered? The nine-time Pro Bowl cornerback is starting to think so.
Bailey and his agent, Jack Reale, were close to hashing out a four-year extension that would have kept the star defensive back in Denver through 2014 when the Broncos decided to pull the offer off the table this week and broke off negotiations.
“I thought we found a way to make it work, but apparently I was wrong,” Bailey told The Associated Press on Friday. “My thing is, my optimism is slowly fading away about staying here.”
The 32-year-old Bailey is in the final season of a seven-year deal and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Coach Josh McDaniels said Friday the Broncos want Bailey to finish his career in Denver but suggested the timing just wasn’t good right now.
Bailey said the Broncos’ decision to postpone talks on a deal after submitting a proposal to his agent last week, however, makes him wonder if he’ll soon be playing somewhere else.
Bailey also suggested on his weekly radio show on KXDP-FM this week that, given the stalled status of his contract talks, he wouldn’t be surprised if he’s traded by the Oct. 19 deadline.
“There’s so many people just changing teams. I just think anything can happen at any time,” Bailey said. “So, I’m telling you, if you’re a guy in your last year or you want a new contract or you’re a free agent, you might go somewhere else. Do I really need to spell it out for you?”
Bailey said he wouldn’t request a trade, though.
“I’m just saying (a trade is) always a possibility,” he said, pointing out the Patriots’ trade of Randy Moss back to the Minnesota Vikings this week. “It wouldn’t surprise me. Things like that wouldn’t surprise me, but I’m not saying that we’re going to ask for a trade or anything. I love being here. So, I wouldn’t do that.”
Bailey said he feels he’s playing as well as he ever has after overcoming a string of injuries in recent years.
“I’ve battled some pretty major injuries and, fortunately, I’ve gotten myself healthy enough to play again and play at a high level and, you know, that’s all I can do. I really can’t lose sleep over what’s going on right now,” Bailey said on his show. “I’m still auditioning for 31 other teams, so my play with speak for itself and … the money will come when it needs to.”
McDaniels said Friday that putting an extension on the back burner doesn’t mean the Broncos want to cut ties with Bailey.
“We’re not going to talk about the contract and all that stuff in general, but we want Champ Bailey to be here. We want him to finish his career here,” McDaniels said. “There’s a lot of little things that go into these things. These things take time to get right and sometimes the timing of it doesn’t match with the player’s desire or our desire, but ultimately when they get worked out everybody’s content and happy.
McDaniels suggested that general manager Brian Xanders’ negotiations with Reale were complicated and just needed more time.
“If there’s something that can happen sooner rather than later, then that’s what we’ll want to do. I love the guy. He’s been great for me, professionally, personally,” McDaniels said.
“He’s great for our locker room and nobody here wants him to leave and there’s a lot of things that go into these things and factor into timing. Brian’s handled a lot of these things great through the course of the offseason. I expect that to be the case with this. It might take a little while.”
Xanders negotiated extensions this offseason for restricted free agents Elvis Dumervil, Chris Kuper and Kyle Orton and had been working on an extension for Bailey for some time before suddenly reversing course.
The Broncos could retain Bailey with the franchise tag next season but that would likely cost them in the neighborhood of $10 million.
Whatever happens, Bailey said he won’t let the snag in talks affect his performance.
“It won’t get in the way of my playing,” he insisted. “It’s not going to be a distraction whatsoever.”
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AP freelance writer Lee Rasizer contributed to this report.
