The $87MM in guarantees on Andrew Luck‘s new contract should help franchise-tagged Broncos linebacker Von Miller in his quest to land a long-term accord, tweets Mark Dominik of ESPN. Although the Broncos and Miller only have until July 15 to reach a deal, they had ceased discussions as of last Friday. Miller – the reigning Super Bowl MVP – rejected a six-year, $114.5MM offer from the Broncos because it featured $39.8MM in guarantees, an amount the four-time Pro Bowler deemed unsatisfactory. If the two sides don’t find common ground and strike an agreement in the next two-plus weeks, Miller’s options would be to sign his $14.129MM franchise tender and play 2016 under it or sit out the season.
More from around the league:
- The NFL has discussed cutting the preseason schedule to three games, increasing the regular season to 17 contests and giving all 32 teams an international game, Packers president Mark Murphy told Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. That would require approval from the NFL Players Association, though, and NFLPA assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah laughed at the idea of the union agreeing to it (Twitter link).
- If the Steelers are deciding on whether to give a long-term deal to rusher Le’Veon Bell or receiver Antonio Brown, they should choose the latter in a runaway, opines Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Brown is four years older than Bell, but Zeise points to running backs’ short shelf lives and the position’s fungibility as reasons to favor the wideout. It helps Zeise’s argument that, despite Bell’s 10-game absence, the Steelers had the eighth-best yards-per-carry average in the league last season, when DeAngelo Williams amassed 907 yards and 11 touchdowns on 200 carries in his age-32 campaign. Brown, meanwhile, tied for the league lead in receptions (136), finished second in yards (1,834) and found the end zone 10 times. He still has two years left on his deal, whereas Bell is entering a contract year.
- Out-of-work quarterback Johnny Manziel is currently vacationing in Cabo, where he’s staying in a mansion with 20 people, according to TMZ. A woman staying in the house posted a picture of herself holding what appear to be drugs, though Manziel told TMZ that they’re not his and he he doesn’t know the woman. Manziel also informed TMZ that he isn’t doing any drugs in Cabo and plans to go completely sober July 1, when he’ll earnestly start training toward a return to the NFL.
- Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said in an appearance on The Rob Maaddi Show in Philadelphia that the league is concerned about Manziel and will “continue to keep reaching out” (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). However, Vincent asked rhetorically how the league is supposed to a help an individual “that’s really not interested or quite frankly doesn’t want to meet you halfway,” adding that Manziel’s situation has “gotten out of control.”