Boss Bailey is a Bronco, officially. The team announced at 3:36 p.m. MST on Thursday that the team had signed the unrestricted free agent linebacker — and younger brother of All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey.
NFL.com first reported that the Broncos had agreed to terms with Boss Bailey on Thursday afternoon.
Boss Bailey has traversed one of the more inspirational paths in recent NFL annals. He overcame two torn knee ligaments just to make it into pro football; he tore a left-knee ligament in high school and one in his right knee during his time at the University of Georgia. He also missed the entire 2004 season with torn meniscus in his right knee, but recovered fully.
He amassed 118 tackles in the last two seasons for the Detroit Lions while only missing one game in that time.
The signing makes the Baileys the third set of siblings concurrently on a Broncos roster, following in the footsteps of Eldon and William Danenhauer — together for four games in 1960 — and Doug and Dave Widell, who shared a locker room from 1990-92.
While William Danenhauer only had a four-game stint, Eldon played six seasons and was an All-American Football League selection. The Widells’ careers had less divergent trajectories; Doug was also with the Broncos in 1989, while Dave remained with the club in 1993 and 1994.
Albert and Paul Carmichael were both on the Broncos during their formative years, but their tenures were four seasons apart; Albert was with the team in 1960 and 1961, while Paul played three games in 1965. Both were halfbacks.
Discuss below, and until next time, vaya con Dios.
Tags: Boss Bailey, Champ Bailey, Free Agency
Honestly, this signing really excites me and I hope this team will pull together as a unit and push eachother.
I have the strangest feeling that we are going to be trying hard to draft Earl Bennet, imagine him and cutler reunited…
GREAT!!!!!! Sign excellent job BOSS is just what we needed.
but on the WR deal we need to draft a WR with our #12 pick if we dont get something better out of FA. Bottom line is Sweed is great but Desean Jackson is better for us. We Need a serious playmer game breaker on Returns as well as recieving and Jackson could provide that for us. Keep in mind that our return game can use help along with the recieving corp.
Frankly at #12 I would be happy to get Sweed; Jackson; Caldwell; or Manningham all our playmakers, that will help Brandon and keep Stokley in the slot where we need him.
I still think we Need to look at Chris Johnson even though we have great RB speed and talent like that doesnt come every day.
I think its time for NEW UNIFORMS also
i love this addition.welcome BOSS BAILEY. the linebackers are looking good for 08 GO BRONCOS
I was a little frustrated at first that Shanny didn’t go for any big name players. Now that we got Boss though i think that we are pretty solid on defense. However, signing McCree or getting a big Defensive tackle would also really really help. They really need to have a good draft this year. I’m thinking either a Wide Receiver or Safety in the first round and then either offensive or defensive linemen in the later rounds. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take a Running Back and a kicker/punter also.
I agree we are set at RB, but I think the team should take a long look at Mendenhall. He looks like a very rare blend of speed and power……
whats up
Great signing,I have just one more for the wish list, if we can make the trade and pay the price for bly,lets do the math and try to sign jared allen away from k.c our line backers are going to so freaking fast, take allen on one side and elvis on the other no one I mean no one is going to run outside and no QB is going to be comfortable in the pocket now is the time to make that move,Eb will be backthat will be a great help in the middle but hey one mans thought
I wish all the good DTs wouldn’t have been frachised or there would be about 3 more extremely good DTs in the draft. I guess when the Broncos get Keith Rivers in the first round we will have the BEST linebacking corp in the league. Now only if we could stop the run and we’d have the ORANGE CRUSH 2.
(Den)Miramontes if you’ve read some of my previous comments I’ve already said we need Shane Olivea. And us fans and the Broncos organization are conscience of the team needs. If you’re trying to look smart don’t, as I just said everyone knows what we need and what we need most.
Hey guy, lets just say Mcfadden last to the 12 pick. Would you consider trading that pick to the cowboys if they are willing to give us both their first round picks. Just a thought. anyway, welcome to Mile high Boss.
k-n9ne, no. we need to best defensive player. and we couldn’t get him at number 22, 28 or in a later round.
and someone in the Broncos organization please listen to this:
Can we try to get Atari Bigby? He is a hart hitter that would be a great compliment to John Lynch and next year he could play with Dominique Barber (a guy who the Broncos should draft in the 5th round) next year.
Awesome Sign… I’m really excited about the defense this year. Boss will definitely help our LB’s out I’m not to familiar with this Niko guy but from the way everyone is talking about him he’s getting me excited too. We should have a way better defense this year and through the draft we will get even better. DJ moving back to his oriiginal position will help out alot. And as for Al as much as I want him back he probably is done. We really need to focus on our OL and DL and S positions in the draft. We are going to have an amazing year this year. We don’t have the toughest schedule so we should to pretty good. Welcome to Denver Boss. Can’t wait to see ya when I go to the Charger VS Bronco game!!!!
We might as well call him Limas Sweet, as it would be sweet for Marshall, Limas and Stokley to be in our receiving core. I think Boss can do a great job but only time will tell. Things are slowly but surely going into motion for the Broncos to be a threat in the AFC!
Believe it or not Denver does not need a wr or a safety if they get marlon mcree or an immediate top ten dt this year Cutler will be in his third year and teams will be keying more on him as our running game is and will decline until we replace our offensive or check this trade up a few picks and take darren mcfadden with mcfadden in the back field teams will be forced to focus more on him as well as cutler and our newly emerging pass threat in marshall. flat out we get a stud rb we score tds defense can breath super bowl baby!!!!!!
Nice to have Boss on board, maybe he will become the leader of the defense like Al Wilson was I mean with a name like Boss why not? lol
Guys are talking bout this Niko guy like he’s Jonathan Vilma or something?! Keep D.J. in the middle and lets build around him. I would still like to see Jarvis Moss at weakside linebacker, who knows the kid might wind up with 15 sacks for all we know. Boss on the strong side and we’ve reclaimed the fastest LB group.
Where is Nate Webster in all of this?
i like what broncosfanatic4 said. i know we have a good rb core right now but what if henry goes down again? i say we trade henry and our first pick to move up a spot or two and take mcfadden. he may be our next TD if we give it a chance and with selvin splitting the carries with him you have two very young studs that will be with cuttler for years to come barring any injurries to either of them. that way we dont have to wonder where our next 1000 yard rusher is coming from each year. this would be an upgrade from henry because of his age and injuries. them we focus on dt with our second pick. what do you guys think?
how old is travis 30, 29 i don’t know but i sure that he not that old
no hes not that old but he gets hurt too much for his age
I’ve wondered about Webster as well. Isn’t he a more natural MLB? Was he the worst gap-assignment culprit from last season or something?
Dj has had his best season at MLB he was second in tackles in the nfl just behind the nfl defesive player of the year from san fransico. We have a good player in the middle and if denver moves Dj that would be a big mistake. We need a weak side linebacker like Keith Rivers, but it all starts up front and we need a defesive tackle or a left tackle not a WR we have Glenn Martinez and Brandon Marshall who are great players. Signing Boss was a great pick up and Marlon Mcree would be another great pick up. I say if Ellis or Dorsey (Dorsey is known around as injury prone and might fall to the 12th spot) or that offensive tackle from vanderbuilt is at 12 we pull the trigger. Shanahan better take a OT because we are thing at those positions and not many people know if Ryan Harris will turn out to be the player they think he might be so i would say LOT will be the most important position to denver. Al was a good player but Dj filled the position the best and Al might not have any left in the tank he is an old linebacker who was great but that neck injury left him a different player.
who ever is playing defense, LB’s DT’s, please just knock philip rivers mouth shut!
Boss will be fine here probably nothing spectacular but he should be solid. Champ now will be happier than a tornado in a trailer park. DJ will dominate the weak side…the draft will produce a middle backer…Would really have liked to see a trade for Vilma involving Mike bell or henry…one of our many RBs
Nothing would make me happier than watching the Broncos blitz with Lynch and seeing him do his thing by laying out philip rivers!
I understand signing Boss Bailey, but the signing of Sherperd makes no sense. Desperatrely seeking a top notch return man is the only thing that makes any semblance of sense. ???????
Wonder what the cahnces are the Broncos will trade for a later pick along with a second or third rounder. Shanny has done it before.
This just made life a lot easier for their mother.
This is great though, for the team and for them both.
crherrera: Nate Webster will occasionally make a huge tackle, but usually either misses the tackle or hits a guy really hard without wrapping him up leading to positive yardage and big gains. Yet through it all Webster’s helmet always pops off. That’s where he is in all of this, Webster is not a starter in my opinion and will have to battle keep his roster spot this training camp.
Agree Webster = not that good thats hes why we lost to the 49ers two last year when wilson was out with the neck fiasco…We still need a MLB Niko doesnt seem like a fit
(Den)Miramontes…sorry for calling you out but it ticks me off when people repeat what’s already said, except a “welcome to the team” or something like that. and there is nothing wrong with getting Keith Rivers because then the Broncos would have a top-notch linebacking corp. and we could get rid of some of those LBs who aren’t performing well. what happened to not calling out fellow fans, hypocrite?
and k-n9ne what I should have said, and should have said nicer was that there is almost no way that Darren McFadden would fall to the 12th pick because some of the first 8 teams need a RB and if they don’t pick him up New England at #7 would just because they like big names.
bickering stops now
i agree with bronco boy i say we just wait and see how travis and selvin turn out
if there are plenty of good DTs why can’t we wait until later because there are few good LBs and we still need a weakside guy.
chew on that everyone who laughs at the idea of getting Keith Rivers
thank you Denverelway and plus if Travis Henry doesn’t work out, which i kinda doubt he will, we can have a good duo in Young and Hall.
Whats the talk about drafting a linebacker? The Broncos need to get a good pass rusher instead.
no no no no i think we need a o-line men we need to replace matt
Trading up for mcfadden.. no no goblin 23, youve got it all wrong, its
TRADE UP FOR DORSEY
We can get a good running back in a later round(jamaal charles), and how is glenn martinez a great player. we still need another wide out, Kenan burton out of kentucky, he’s fast, physical, built, think of greg jennings from green bay, he would be a great add on the second day.
But now that we have invested so much in the LB’s we need to allow them to do their job and sure up that D-line, dumervilles good but moss needs to produce, and the guy out of texas from last year needs to produce, as well. But all in all this is gona have to be mikes best draft to date, if the players pan out, then we gota chance to make the playoff, but if its just a average draft, well be 9-7
And wehenever they decide to pick a LB in the draft we just need to pick the best LB availabe if its a middle linebacker Dj can move outside, if its an outside line backer(Stanford keglar, or kliff avril) than DJ can stay out side
does any one know our exact pick order for the entire draft
BroncoBoy you got it backwards. This draft is full of OLB/DE hybrid type players two years from now theres gona be a few guys wit shuan phillip type production, and where picked on the second day. But there are only 3 sure guys at DT after that theres a big drop off
That was a great pick up. Boss has great feet and speed what we were looking for in our lb. Its seems that we all agree on this pick up. I played with my bro and we were always competitive with each other when we were on the field. so I think it will even motivate Champ even more. Great job Broncos.
m.c. the great i don’t think i agree. after dan connor, keith rivers, xavier adibi and ali highsmith i don’t think there are many good prospects. at defensive end i agree because chris long, vernon gholston, derek harvey, calais campbell and so on are good athletes. and at DT there are good players too. sedrick ellis, glenn dorsey, pat sims, kentwan balmer, trevor laws, frank okam, and marcus harrison are ALL good prospects it’s just that the first 2 are extremely good. if we can’t get one of those good LBs to compliment d.j. and boss then we wont have a chance to get one this season. in the 2nd round we can get pat sims, trevor laws, frank okam or marcus harrison. that is why i think we should grab keith rivers everyone. so if you think i am dumb READ THIS AGAIN!!!!
Excellent pick-up in Boss, I agree that we need to sign Marlon Mcree. That would be such a huge improvment to our secondary. And in the draft we need a WR,DT, and an RB. Some people may think that we are set at RB. But I for one am not convinced of it. We have Henry who gets injured it seems like every year, Selvin young who had some breakout games but was less than impressive at most times. And Hall, who’s only playing time came when the starters were hurt. And if they don’t sign Elam again then we will need a kicker somewhere in the draft. But I think that of it can be done we need to pick up Mendanhall or Stewart. I’m not to set on Mcfadden, I’m not sure he is the style of RB that would Denver’s scheme.
I dont know if any of you evaluate the cap ramifications of signing a McFadden or Dorsey. There is no way…… no way we can afford either of those names we would be lucky to sign a WR in round one. The chances of us signing any big money positions like DE/DT/WR/LT/RB are slim in the first round our best bet is to draft LB or S in the first round. I know your all so excited about our LB core but it still lacks to impress anyone that doesnt bleed orange and blue. The only big impact LB we have is DJ. The others may be solid but they wont be big impact. I surely do not see how some of you are saying that we shouldnt be focused on D to fix the atrocity we fielded last year and called our run D. First round should either go to phillips(he is my pick look at the talent from the canes) or Rivers who ever is on the board if both then the one that has had the most impressive proday and combine. Second round is where we should get a T if we can not get shane olivea for cheap but not likely the gaurd from indy will be to expensive as well. Draft should go in this order.
rd1: S or LB
rd2: OT
rd3: traded gone audios
rd4:(i believe we still have) DT
rd5:WR
anything else i dont really care but our cap is ugly and even after lynch departs it wont get any better. we need to maybe focus on signing Bmarsh to a longer deal. I am not fond of the idea of having Martinez as a #2 but i wish we would play graham less and play scheffler more.
A safety would be ok, but I am thinking LB. If not Rivers, then Conner. I think that I like this kid even more than Rivers. Just saying that he was a record setter at his university is great. When you consider that it was LINEBACKER U it means quite a bit more. If there is a good lineman on the board though, it would be very tempting. It might not be the “sexy” pick, but it will pay dividends for years to come.
DJ belongs on the outside. Period.
For those of you posting that we need to draft LBs, please read the title of the blog that you are posting on. WE JUST SPENT ***MILLIONS*** on LBs. We need OL, then S, then DL, then WR, then CB, THEN LBs and RBs. Let Young and Hall mature while Henry takes his lumps. Let Niko and Boss play like they play and get paid how they get paid. Both are great players. Both are very fast. This will assist against the run as we got beat mostly when the RBs ran off tackle. This is the key for success: DJ=Weak OLB, Niko=MLB and Boss=Strong OLB. We see that, we see the playoffs. Guaranteed.
Thats all well and good #27HitsOkoye but what happens if one of them gets hurt? Who fills in? I would rather have 4 starting caliber LB’s (one that could potentially be traded in a couple of years) than 2 LB’s and some guys who are gabbing about that time they made that back hit in 2000. We have a SERIOUS drop off in talent after the first level.
Great pickup with Boss!What’s with marlon mccree?Is it true we are trying to get L. fitzgerald??
Fitz is inticing, but unlikely. Even assuming that we could afford him, if he were released he has made it known that he would like to play for his home team, the Vikings.
WAbronc, Winborn showed in 2007 he is more than capable of filling in should one of our starters go down.
He is ok… But he only posted 34 tackles in 14 games. That equates to just under 2.5 per game. To put that into perspective Koutouvides posted 23 tackles in 15 games on SPECIAL TEAMS. I a year that our d line was completely pourus, you would think that he could do better. I am not sure that with the talent in the draft we should have to wait for him to do better.
By comparison Ian Gold (whom everyone was calling for his head) had 72 total tackles in 14 games or just over 5pg. As fans of one of the greatest sports franchises we should not have to settle for mediocrity.