Golden Nuggets: Is Champ Bailey an option at Cornerback?

Speculate. This is what we do during the off-season. And thanks to the NFL delaying the amateur draft, we get to do it for an additional month. The latest offering is from Kevin Lynch who surmises that the 49ers could possibly kick the tires on former Bronco Champ Bailey. This is of course a reaction to Chris Culliver's latest character faux-pas, leading many to believe that he may not have what it takes to be a quality long-term starter for San Francisco.

With Chris Culliver's troubles, will the 49ers look at Champ? (Lynch)

We all know that Trent Baalke will draft at least one and most likely 2 options at CB and probably sign another UDFA or so. But under the Harbaugh meritocracy, they always value competition and depth at each position and so it's very likely that the team could look at Bailey if he was willing to do a non-guaranteed, incentive-laden deal similar to what the 49ers offered Nnamdi Asomugha last year. That didn't pan out, but it also didn't cost the team very much.

We know exactly what Bailey has to offer: A past his prime veteran with diminishing skills but with experience and good locker room leadership. As you can see from his numbers, his career peak was in 2006 and he has been steadily declining since. Is it worth it for the team to bring him in? There's definitely not a lot of upside here, but if they can get him for a non-guaranteed "prove it" deal, there's also very little risk. At best you could have a solid backup who will serve as a mentor for some of our younger, character-challenged DB's, and at worst he will be a pre-season roster casualty.

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