dragondawg
04-06-2007, 06:06 AM
Champ not chafed by Clements' deal
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Way more than usual, Champ Bailey heard from friends and teammates the past month.
They wanted to know if he was upset about the new contract cornerback Nate Clements received through the power of free agency from the San Francisco 49ers. How could Clements get an eight-year, $80 million deal when Bailey, the undisputed top cornerback in the NFL, isn't yet halfway through his seven-year, $63 million deal with the Broncos?
That's the problem with friends. They have a way of inadvertently agitating more than pacifying.
"How I respond to that is, 'OK, I know he's not as good a corner as I am,' and I think anybody in this league would tell you that," Bailey said Thursday following his offseason workout at the team's Dove Valley headquarters. "But, I need to find out the terms of his deal because there is some question about that. I don't think he should be getting paid more than me, but at the same time, the salary cap is a lot higher than it was three years ago. So it's not the same situation.
"I'm glad he got it, though. It's going to help the rest of us."
Upon closer inspection of Clements' contract, some financial experts would say Bailey remains the league's highest-paid defensive player. Bailey's $9 million average salary represented 11.1 percent of the league's $80.58 million salary cap in 2004, when he signed his new deal. Clements' $10 million average is 9.2 percent of the current $109 million cap.
There is also what the football industry is calling a "phony" final year of nearly $16 million in Clements' contract. Those dollars and that year would automatically evaporate should he collect a $10 million roster bonus, as expected, following the 2008 season. Not collecting that roster bonus would mean termination of the contract, so, at best, Clements' deal is for seven years and $64 million.
Still, when Clements, who had 23 interceptions for 341 return yards and no playoff games in his six NFL seasons in Buffalo, has a $1 million richer contract than Bailey, who in just the past two seasons has 19 interceptions for 401 return yards, eyebrows raise, mouths gape and cellphone minutes whir.
Will Bailey be asking the Broncos for a new contract?
"I'm not that type of guy," Bailey said. "I know the time and place to do that. We weren't really worried about it, but then I've had so many phone calls about the Clements' deal that you couldn't help but be interested in it."
As a general rule, teams revisit contracts with top players after the fourth year, so don't be surprised if the Broncos and Bailey discuss a new deal after this season - when the salary cap will climb to an estimated $116 million.
Check back in eight years
Veteran receiver Brandon Stokley met the local press Thursday for the first time since he signed his one-year contract with the Broncos. Stokley is impressed with Broncos second-year quarterback Jay Cutler, who passed for 1,001 yards in five games last season, but isn't about to measure Cutler's talent next to that of his former quarterback, Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, who has 37,586 passing yards in nine seasons.
"I believe Peyton is the best quarterback to ever play the game," Stokley said. "So to compare someone to Peyton isn't fair to everybody else, in my standards, anyway."
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_5604884
By Mike Klis
Denver Post Staff Writer
Way more than usual, Champ Bailey heard from friends and teammates the past month.
They wanted to know if he was upset about the new contract cornerback Nate Clements received through the power of free agency from the San Francisco 49ers. How could Clements get an eight-year, $80 million deal when Bailey, the undisputed top cornerback in the NFL, isn't yet halfway through his seven-year, $63 million deal with the Broncos?
That's the problem with friends. They have a way of inadvertently agitating more than pacifying.
"How I respond to that is, 'OK, I know he's not as good a corner as I am,' and I think anybody in this league would tell you that," Bailey said Thursday following his offseason workout at the team's Dove Valley headquarters. "But, I need to find out the terms of his deal because there is some question about that. I don't think he should be getting paid more than me, but at the same time, the salary cap is a lot higher than it was three years ago. So it's not the same situation.
"I'm glad he got it, though. It's going to help the rest of us."
Upon closer inspection of Clements' contract, some financial experts would say Bailey remains the league's highest-paid defensive player. Bailey's $9 million average salary represented 11.1 percent of the league's $80.58 million salary cap in 2004, when he signed his new deal. Clements' $10 million average is 9.2 percent of the current $109 million cap.
There is also what the football industry is calling a "phony" final year of nearly $16 million in Clements' contract. Those dollars and that year would automatically evaporate should he collect a $10 million roster bonus, as expected, following the 2008 season. Not collecting that roster bonus would mean termination of the contract, so, at best, Clements' deal is for seven years and $64 million.
Still, when Clements, who had 23 interceptions for 341 return yards and no playoff games in his six NFL seasons in Buffalo, has a $1 million richer contract than Bailey, who in just the past two seasons has 19 interceptions for 401 return yards, eyebrows raise, mouths gape and cellphone minutes whir.
Will Bailey be asking the Broncos for a new contract?
"I'm not that type of guy," Bailey said. "I know the time and place to do that. We weren't really worried about it, but then I've had so many phone calls about the Clements' deal that you couldn't help but be interested in it."
As a general rule, teams revisit contracts with top players after the fourth year, so don't be surprised if the Broncos and Bailey discuss a new deal after this season - when the salary cap will climb to an estimated $116 million.
Check back in eight years
Veteran receiver Brandon Stokley met the local press Thursday for the first time since he signed his one-year contract with the Broncos. Stokley is impressed with Broncos second-year quarterback Jay Cutler, who passed for 1,001 yards in five games last season, but isn't about to measure Cutler's talent next to that of his former quarterback, Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, who has 37,586 passing yards in nine seasons.
"I believe Peyton is the best quarterback to ever play the game," Stokley said. "So to compare someone to Peyton isn't fair to everybody else, in my standards, anyway."
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_5604884