A trade between the Washington Redskins and Denver Broncos that will send cornerback Champ Bailey to Denver for tailback Clinton Portis is expected to be completed this weekend after Bailey examines and then signs the Broncos' contract proposal, Bailey's agent said yesterday.
“Both sides believe that we have an agreement in principle," Jack Reale, Bailey's agent, said yesterday from his Atlanta office. "It's now reduced to examining the writings and the approval and signings by all parties. It'll probably take another couple of days before it's done."
Reale received the first detailed contract proposal from the Broncos yesterday, one after Bailey visited Denver with his wife, Hanady, and concluded he would be comfortable living there.
NFL trades cannot be officially completed until March 3, the start of the free agency period. Paul Kirk, a Broncos spokesman contacted by e-mail yesterday, said officials with the team were not commenting on the Bailey negotiations.
Reale disputed a published report that Bailey had already signed a six-year, $53 million contract, including an $18 million signing bonus. However, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Bailey's new contract will not be far off from those figures.
According to two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not complete, Reale has been negotiating with Denver within the framework of a six-year, $50 million contract, with a signing bonus between $16 million and $18 million. The first three years of Bailey's contract are expected to average $8 million.
According to a source with knowledge of the contract, Bailey's new deal will be considerably richer than the offer he turned down from the Redskins before last season. In August, Bailey declined a nine-year, $55 million offer, partly because of a $14.75 million signing bonus that wasn't fully guaranteed.
On Feb. 11, the Redskins and Bailey resumed negotiations for the first time since training camp and Bailey rejected a similar offer, including a smaller signing bonus. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder then granted the cornerback permission to seek a trade.
