Markus Bailey

Markus LaJuan Bailey is an American professional football linebacker for the Birmingham Stallions of the United Football League. He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers.

College career

After playing at Hilliard Davidson High School, Bailey committed to Purdue on July 13, 2014, choosing the Boilermakers over Akron, Duke, Indiana, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia, among others, although an elusive offer from Ohio State never came.
After being sidelined by a torn ACL during his true freshman season, Bailey started 13 games in each of his redshirt sophomore and junior seasons. After his junior season, Bailey was named second-team all-Big Ten by coaches and third-team all-Big Ten by the media. A knee injury ended Bailey's senior season after two games. He was named a team captain during his junior and senior seasons.

Bailey was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 215th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL draft. He was placed on the active/non-football injury list on July 27, 2020. He was moved back to the active roster on August 2.

On May 7, 2024, Bailey signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals. He was released on August 27, and re-signed to the practice squad. On November 19, the NFL suspended Bailey for 6 games after he violated the league's PED policy.

Bailey was named all-Academic Big Ten his redshirt freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons.