In the minutes after the 2024 NFL draft concluded, Levelle Bailey spun through a carwash of emotions.
Disappointment that he didn’t see his name pop up on television as one of 257 picks.
But also excitement. Adrenaline. A sense of unknown.
In the rush of several teams calling and trying to convince him to sign with them as an undrafted free agent, one voice stuck out.
“Sean (Payton) called me the first time and was talking to me, and I was like, ‘OK,” Bailey told The Denver Post this week. “I was sitting next to my mom on the couch, and she knows about Sean Payton, New Orleans and everything.”
He was hearing from coordinators in other cities, but here was a Super Bowl champion head coach calling multiple times.
Bailey, a linebacker out of Fresno State, talked with Payton once. He talked to then-linebackers coach Greg Manusky — they’d been in touch weekly through the pre-draft process — and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, too. Then assistant Jamar Cain, who, like Bailey, is a Sacramento, Calif., native.
Then Payton called again and said he’d pass along stats about all the success he’d had with undrafted free agents over the years.
“You’re pulling out all the stops, and I’m glad we stayed patient in that process with him and we were able to get him because there were a number of teams interested,” Payton recalled this week.
Indeed, the full-court press worked.
“I called my agent and said, ‘If Sean Payton’s calling my phone, that really means something to me,’” Bailey recalled.
A year later, the Broncos’ second-year linebacker is in the process of trying to cement himself on Payton’s list of success stories.
Bailey’s authoring an eye-opening training camp. He made several plays in coverage the first week. After injuries to Alex Singleton and Drew Sanders, he’s seen a major uptick in reps alongside Dre Greenlaw on the No. 1 defense.
“His instincts are off the charts,” Bailey said of Greenlaw.
Those are serious strides since this time last year. He impressed Denver enough to crack the initial 53-man roster, but then was waived after a day. Bailey made it through waivers to the practice squad and eventually was promoted back to the active roster in October. He appeared in 10 games and played a handful of defensive snaps, but was essentially a special teams player when he was active.
That was a solid introduction to life on the field in the NFL.
Now, though, he’s aiming higher than that after an offseason spent learning how to be a pro in every other department.
“Preparation, getting your body right and learning the playbook,” Bailey said. “Knowing what I’ve got to do but learning, really, what the whole defense is about and why we’re doing it. … Then just studying what the offense is going to do. That gives me confidence to really fly around and make plays.”
Bailey said he spent the offseason mostly conditioning — Singleton and Greenlaw advised him to show up to training camp in shape instead of worrying about being five or 10 pounds heavier on account of a simple fact.
“If you can’t get to the ball, you’re never going to make the tackle,” Bailey said.
Bailey also credits Singleton for texting him early in the offseason with finer points of the defense and things to learn. The jump from understanding his job to understanding Vance Joseph’s defense in its entirety is substantial, but Bailey’s made it going into Year 2.
“Last year I didn’t sit next to Alex in the meeting room, but this year I am,” Bailey said. “Even when coach is going over film, if Alex sees something little, he’ll bump me and whisper in my ear, ‘You see what I was talking about’ with this or that. Justin (Strnad) does the same thing for me in the special teams meetings. … Having those type of guys that want to see me grow as a player and as a person in general and want to drop those gems for the younger guys, that’s really helped me.”
It’s showing on the practice field.
Early in camp, before the pads came on, Bailey made a handful of terrific plays in coverage. That part has always come naturally to him. He played quarterback and nickel in high school and began his college career at 195 pounds.
Former Bulldogs linebackers coach Tim Skipper told him he needed to play linebacker, but, as Bailey now recalls, cautioned him that, “It’s a different life in the box.”
“He’s extremely smart. He’s like a quarterback,” Skipper told The Post. “He’s going to remember the call, tell you the sign and stuff. What he struggled with was the fundamentals of how to strike blocks, get off blocks, make tackles, those sorts of things. Because he just hadn’t done it that long. So we really honed in on that, and I kinda just gave him goals.
“… And he, man, he just attacked it.”
Skipper gave Bailey a bunch of film of pro players to watch, with an emphasis on long, athletic guys who played physical.
“I wanted him to see what it looked like when guys were getting knocked backwards, seeing sure tacklers, seeing guys get off blocks,” Skipper said. “I wanted him to visualize it and see it so that he could go do it.”
Chief among them: San Francisco’s Fred Warner.
“Now it just so happens I’m playing with Dre,” Bailey said of Warner’s former running mate, who signed with Denver back in March.
Since the Broncos have donned pads, Bailey’s been in the mix a lot.
Singleton should be back next week with a club to protect his broken thumb. Until then, Bailey’s getting a long look.
“He’s had a few good days. Real good days,” Payton said. “I think you’re getting a player into his second year with confidence. He’s in good shape. He looks like an NFL linebacker, too. …
“I would say I’ve clearly seen a jump from Year 1 to Year 2 in his confidence.”
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