The best first seasons in Broncos history: No. 2 — Champ Bailey

Jul 20, 2022, 2:16 PM | Updated: 2:26 pm

Senior Broncos Writer

Roughly every two decades, the Broncos make a seismic, league-shattering trade.

In 1983, they traded for that year’s No. 1 overall draft pick, QB John Elway. This past spring, they dealt a package of players and draft picks for nine-time Pro Bowl QB Russell Wilson.

About halfway in-between the two deals, they traded for Champ Bailey.

It was considered an audacious deal in 2004, when it happened. Not since 1974 had two teams exchanged players who made the Pro Bowl the previous season.

But Bailey wanted a new contract. So did Clinton Portis, the Broncos’ rampaging young running back of the day.

Then-Broncos coach Mike Shanahan didn’t want to give Portis a new deal just three seasons into his career. Further, he believed in his scheme and its ability to maximize running backs. After all, Portis was the Broncos’ third different 1,000-yard running back in the five seasons since Terrell Davis’ 2,008-yard 1998 campaign.

And on top of everything else, Shanahan was ahead of the curve.

In 2022, no one would trade a top-3 cornerback for a top-3 running back straight-up. Positional value has evolved, and running back now falls well down the list of priorities. No. 1 cornerback is one of the “core four” positions, along with blindside offensive tackle, edge rusher and, of course, quarterback, which trumps all of them.

But in 2004, not only did Shanahan get the Redskins to take a RB-for-CB deal — he also got a second-round pick back in the swap!

Portis was good for Washington under then-coach Joe Gibbs, beginning his second stint as the team’s head coach at the time. He logged four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his first five years there, including two of over 1,400 yards. Yet Portis was never as explosive in burgundy and gold as he was in orange and blue; he didn’t come within a full yard of the 5.5-yards-per-carry average he posted in both of his Denver seasons.

Bailey, however, was transcendent.

Most of the lines on Bailey’s CV that led to him being a first-ballot Hall of Famer came as a Bronco. He arrived in Denver with stratospheric expectations. Then, he exceeded them.

“That’s what you need — a lockdown corner,” said Broncos defensive end Reggie Hayward during the season. “It’s like, ‘Don’t worry, Champ will get it done.’

“It’s a great feeling having him out there. Everyone’s a little more comfortable. You know that you only have to take care of your job. You don’t have to do more than you’re asked to do, because you know that he’s doing his job perfectly.”

In a November 2004 game at New Orleans, Bailey came up with perhaps the best interception of his Hall-of-Fame career:

This @champbailey interception was RIDICULOUS. @Broncos pic.twitter.com/cgVAyFCFVd

— NFL Throwback (@nflthrowback) March 18, 2019

“[Joe Horn] gave me a good move and got inside on me,” Bailey said at the time. “He just ran across the field. I just had to run and catch up with him and get it.

“I don’t think [Saints QB] Aaron Brooks even saw me.”

He also showed how complete a player he was that day, as he led the Broncos with 11 solo tackles — most of them against the run. Bailey never shied away from his role in run defense and being physical.

That, in my opinion, separates him from Deion Sanders in the pantheon of great cornerbacks. Bailey was a complete, all-around defender.

“There was one play where they ran outside to the corner, and he just put a nice lick on [Saints RB Deuce] McAllister,” Hayward said in 2004. “He knocked him on his back, and I was like, ‘That’s exactly what we need.'”

Bailey became the second player in Broncos history to be a Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro in his first Denver season.

That said, he wasn’t perfect. He had a couple of forgettable games against the Cincinnati Bengals — featuring Chad Johnson — and the Oakland Raiders, both Broncos losses. His best years as a Bronco were still to come.

And he could only do so much. The Broncos learned this the hard way in their divisional-playoff game at Indianapolis.

In March 2004, Denver traded for Bailey and signed John Lynch to try and prevent a game like their playoff loss in Indianapolis 12 months earlier — a 41-10 defeat. Instead, Shanahan and his team got a rerun.

Then-Colts QB Peyton Manning largely ignored Bailey’s side of the field. Instead, he picked on veteran Kelly Herndon and Roc Alexander, an undrafted rookie forced into action as the slot cornerback. Indianapolis raced to a 35-3 halftime lead and cruised to a 49-24 romp. Most of Manning’s aerial damage done came at the expense of Herndon and Alexander.

“I’ve never been a game where so much felt like it was almost helpless,” Lynch said afterward.

Three months later, the Broncos took cornerbacks with their first three draft picks: Darrent Williams, Domonique Foxworth and Karl Paymah. Williams and Foxworth blossomed, and Bailey took his own play up a few notches.

In 2005 and 2006, Bailey became an interception waiting to happen. His pick-6 in a Week 2 win over San Diego in 2005 effectively turned around the season. Another pick-6 on Thanksgiving in Dallas helped set up a thrilling overtime win. Bailey flourished from there, and was still a second-team All-Pro as late as 2012, his 14th NFL season.

No. 24 is currently out of circulation with the Broncos. It would come as no surprise if it is formally retired after new ownership assumes Denver’s reins. It would be a wise choice to honor the best cornerback in team history and one of just two players — along with John Elway — to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer based primarily on his accomplishments as a Bronco.

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ONE FINAL THOUGHT …

… on those every-couple-of-decades trades — and the time it takes to see a return on investment.

With Elway, it took a little while. It wasn’t until 1986 that he hit a legendary level. His rookie year of 1983 was a mixed bag, although in Week 15 it featured a dramatic second-half comeback from a 19-0 deficit to defeat the Baltimore Colts and clinch a playoff berth. The Broncos went 13-3 in 1984 and Elway showed flashes, but it was an opportunistic, takeaway-generating defense that carried the team to a then-franchise record in regular-season wins.

But for Bailey, the returns were immediate. His first season with the Broncos was his sixth year as a pro. Bailey was in his prime, and it showed. He also played a position that allowed him to step in and flourish right away — man-to-man cornerback.

One would expect Wilson to be closer to Bailey in terms of immediate impact. But the best of Wilson in the Broncos’ new scheme might be a year down the line. Of course, that was the case for Bailey; as great as he was in 2004, he was even better in 2005. And in 2006, he should have been the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year.

That would be a nice arc for Wilson to emulate.

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THE BEST FIRST SEASONS IN BRONCOS HISTORY: