Von Miller is seeking to become the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history, and the Denver Broncos are hesitant to offer him that rich of a deal. As such, the two sides are reportedly nowhere close in contract negotiations.
Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports reports that Miller and the Broncos are roughly $4 million per season apart in contract talks — or a total of $20 million over five years. Denver has supposedly offered a five-year, $90 million deal ($18 million per season) and Miller is asking for $110 million over five years ($22 million annually).
Ndamukong Suh, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, earns just over $19 million per season with the Miami Dolphins. Olivier Vernon is now second at $17 million per year with the New York Giants. In reality, the Broncos and Miller probably aren’t a full $4 million per season apart. It’s probably safe to assume that Miller would be happy getting paid somewhere between the $22 million he is seeking and the $19 million Suh makes. Keep in mind that Miller is not free to hit the open market, as Denver retains his rights with the exclusive franchise tag.
As Robinson lays out, Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway leans on so-called “salary cap guru” Mike Sullivan to determine what players should be paid. After defensive end Derek Wolfe took a hometown discount by signing a four-year, $36.7 million extension before he hit free agency, agents believe Sullivan now thinks he can push everyone around.
“I think the Derek Wolfe deal screwed their heads up,” one agent told Robinson. “It made Sullivan believe he could get everyone to do bad deals. There is a lot of arrogance there.”
“[He] tries to make everyone eat a [expletive] sandwich,” another agent said. “And we have long memories.”
We already told you over the weekend what Miller plans to do if he doesn’t get a long-term extension. The Broncos should be able to find some middle ground with the Super Bowl MVP, especially since they can just franchise tag him this season and next and pay him a total of $32 million over that stretch.
