Broncos coach Josh McDaniels did his best last week to suggest that the club’s decision to pull out of contract extension talks with Champ Bailey was no big deal. Or, at least, didn’t preclude a big deal later.
Sometimes, McDaniels suggested, these things take time. “I love the guy,” he said.
Bailey’s take was somewhat different. He said the Broncos’ decision made him less optimistic about playing in Denver beyond this season. Citing the Patriots’ trade of receiver Randy Moss last week, Bailey said it wouldn’t shock him if he were traded.
So what’s really going on, an inconsequential delay or the beginning of the end of the Broncos’ relationship with their best defensive player? And why would the organization pull out of contract talks just days after resuming them? A few theories are circulating:
• The Broncos had second thoughts about making a four-year commitment to a 32-year-old defensive back.
While this is a perfectly defensible position, it doesn’t explain why the club would resume negotiations a week ago and then pull its offer off the table a few days later. Besides, Brian Dawkins turns 37 this week and he’s playing pretty well.
• Bailey and his agent made demands that rendered the deal unpalatable to the Broncos.
This too is possible, but Bailey said he had decided to accept the Broncos’ latest offer even though he wasn’t thrilled with it. “I thought we found a way to make it work, but apparently I was wrong,” he told The Associated Press.
• Owner Pat Bowlen and/or chief operating officer Joe Ellis put the clamps down on further spending by McDaniels and general manager Brian Xanders.
This theory supposes it was Xanders who resumed the extension talks and Ellis who halted them. Through a spokesman, Ellis declined comment. Bowlen and Ellis have been emphasizing financial accountability since McDaniels arrived. In fact, it was one of their principal issues with former coach Mike Shanahan.
Last year’s NFL salary cap was $128 million. The Broncos’ cap number was $102 million. So coming into this year, Bowlen was already spending considerably less on player salaries than the league permitted.
Because the NFL opted out of its labor agreement with the players, there is no cap this year. If there were, Mike Florio of reported the Broncos’ 2010 cap number would be $102.9 million, higher than only five other teams — the Bengals, Cardinals, Jaguars, Chiefs and Buccaneers.
In fact, the Broncos now spend less on player salaries relative to other teams in their league than any Denver major-league sports team except the Avalanche. The Nuggets’ player payroll ranks fifth in the NBA, pending possible trades. The Rockies’ payroll ranks 16th in major- league baseball. The Broncos’ payroll now ranks 27th in the NFL, according to Florio.
Forbes magazine estimates the Broncos rank 10th in the NFL in franchise value at slightly over $1 billion, eighth in annual revenue at $250 million and 22nd in operating income at $22 million.
The financial commitments made by McDaniels and Xanders so far this year have been a mixed bag. The biggest was the $58.3 million extension — $43 million of it guaranteed against injury — they awarded Elvis Dumervil, last year’s NFL sack leader. Shortly afterward, Dumervil suffered a season-ending chest injury in training camp. The big numbers in his contract don’t kick in until next year.
The Broncos also gave rookie quarterback Tim Tebow $9 million in guarantees and free-agent defensive lineman Jarvis Green more than $3 million. Green was cut before the season began.
On the other hand, contract extensions for quarterback Kyle Orton and guard Chris Kuper, as well as free-agent contracts for defensive linemen Jamal Williams and Justin Bannan, look like good investments so far.
It’s possible Bailey and the Broncos ran into irreconcilable differences in their briefly resumed extension talks, but if so, Bailey and his agent, Jack Reale, seemed unaware of it. They said the Broncos’ withdrawal from the talks took them by surprise.
It sounds more like Bowlen is tightening the purse strings some more in advance of a widely anticipated labor dispute next year. With the two sides preparing for prolonged hostilities — the owners extending their bank credit, the players’ union threatening to decertify — suspension of the talks with Bailey may be the Broncos’ way of saying no more big deals until further notice.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com or
