It appears Von Miller‘s Dancing with the Stars run will likely keep him from beginning offseason workouts with the Broncos. Well, that and the fact the star pass-rusher hasn’t signed his franchise tag yet. Unless the 27-year-old Miller is eliminated from the competition Monday night, he will remain in Los Angeles for the duration of his stint on the show, Mike Klis of 9News reports.
But the bigger takeaway from Klis’ report is the Broncos have offered Miller a deal that would pay him between $17-$18MM p
er year.
That total would place the Super Bowl MVP second among all defensive players, behind only Ndamukong Suh‘s $19.06MM, in terms of average annual value.
Despite Miller’s demand of a $22MM-AAV deal in line with elite quarterbacks, the Broncos do not want to exceed Suh’s annual salary, Klis writes. Without Peyton Manning‘s $15MM+ cap number on their books as it was from 2012-15, Miller would become the highest-paid Bronco on a per-year basis — since the full parameters of Denver’s offer to Miller is not yet known — if he opted to accept this deal. Klis reports Miller is not expected to sign his franchise tender anytime soon.
Denver’s No. 2 pick in 2011, Miller believes he’s worth far more than the $17MM-AAV deal Olivier Vernon signed with the Giants based on the edge-rushers’ disparate sack numbers. The Broncos have eclipsed Vernon’s per-year mark but not nearly to Miller’s liking. A 2012 second-rounder, Vernon has 29.0 career sacks and one season with more than 10. Miller, a two-time first-team All-Pro, has 60.0 and four 10-sack+ seasons.
Vernon, however, was able to push his price this high because he was a free agent, whereas Miller will have a difficult time moving the Broncos to beyond $20MM per year due to the fact they’re negotiating with the franchise tag in play. Miller could play this year on the tag and be re-tagged next year — like the Seahawks did with Walter Jones — and still fall well short of Suh’s $19MM+ salary since his exclusive franchise tag is worth $14.129MM.
So, this standoff will likely continue well into the summer. If the sides don’t reach an extension agreement by July 15, Miller will play the 2016 season for $14.129MM.
Had Miller not been involved in this television competition, the fact that he hasn’t signed his tender would keep him out of Denver. Demaryius Thomas bypassed Broncos workouts until being signed to a five-year extension last July. Gary Kubiak told media, including Klis, he expected every player on the roster to attend these workouts, including Miller.
Klis doubts Miller will be eliminated from a contest that has actually induced Miller to take up residence in L.A. to practice at least four times per week. Dancing with the Stars arranges housing for its contestants.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images
Let him go he’s not worth the money One Good Year doesn’t make a career they’ll be another one coming along he’s definitely not worth 22 million no one is
Agree players like these can be found compared to setting the franchise back for 3-5 years. Take the patriots approach and find those that fit your system or since you develop well draft one.
You have Ray, Barrett, and Ware. Draft another one. Get the most out of your Players in the 1st 4-5 years after drafting them before they become high priced and let someone else pay them. He is talking 12% of the cap and Eve. You get your QB that’s 1/4 of the cap. You can never survive and expect to win with 25% of the $ tied to 2 players. Regardless of the cap going up.
The nature of this game will start to see franchise focus on drafts and hope they hit on a player from each position so that after 5 years they are in a rotation to have a team and start over with drafting again to replace the players that came in 5 years earlier.
Teams should have coaches that develop and move on develop and move on. If they can’t you have to let them go.
This is how the pats have been able to stay around for so long in a free agent era. They have a system that grooms players for “x” # of years and then find those that fit at low $ or draft and find in low rounds and develop. They have been ahead of the game for 10 years now. Pay attention. It is a copy cat league but few are following.