Von Miller told Denver Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak he will not be attending team activities this offseason because he’s currently without a contract, Mike Klis of 9News in Denver reports.
This news isn’t surprising, and Klis has been assuming this would be the case now for weeks.
The Broncos own the rights to Miller this year by way of the franchise tag, which would pay him $14.129 million. However, Miller hasn’t signed the tender and isn’t expected to sign it any time soon.
Some reports indicate the All-Pro pass rusher is seeking upwards of $22 million per season, but the Broncos have reportedly offered him a contract that would pay him between $17-18 million per season — Olivier Vernon money.
Making matters worse in terms of how this contract situation is developing, the Broncos have said they are not interested in making Miller the highest-paid defender in the NFL. At this time, Ndamukong Suh has that honor, with an average salary of just over $19 million per year.
Miller and the Broncos have until July 15 to get a long-term deal done. If nothing is agreed upon by that time, then the linebacker will have to play out the season on the franchise tag, which is significantly less than any long-term deal would offer up front.
Given the fact that Miller has racked up 60 sacks in his first five years in the league, and given his stellar postseason and Super Bowl performance, he probably does deserve to reap a massive, record-breaking contract.
Unfortunately for him, the Broncos are one of the most cap-strapped teams in the NFL. Even now, without adding another quarterback to compete with Mark Sanchez, Denver has less than $7 million to spend this year. Some things can still be done to drop that number, and any contract Miller signs would likely include a low cap hit for the 2016 season in exchange for up-front guaranteed cash.
However, this situation isn’t getting any easier, any time soon.
Miller is making it clear by skipping out on offseason workouts that he’s serious about his desire to be the NFL’s highest-paid defender. The ball is sitting squarely in John Elway’s court now, and it’s going to be interesting to see if he can make sweet lemonade out of these lemons.