Miller’s camp had rejected the $38.5 million the Broncos offered in guarantees, and Miller threatened to sit out the season barring a long-term deal. Olivier Vernon landed the richest contract of any defensive end in National Football League history earlier this offseason with the Giants, worth $85 million ($52.5 guaranteed), and no one believes Vernon is close to the player Miller is.
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The speculation surrounding Miller was that he was not going to play under the franchise tag and eventually he and the Broncos would come to a resolution. Taking the franchise tender would not only be giving up money this year, it could potentially be damaging long-term. Conversely, if Miller has another monstrous season, even though he’d be losing money this year, perhaps he could make even more in the coming years.
Kirk Cousins, Alshon Jeffery, Eric Berry and Trumaine Johnson, however, will all be playing this season under the value of their tags after they and their teams failed to agree on long-term contracts by the NFL’s deadline Friday.
The deal, which ended the sometimes testy negotiations of the past five months, got done when the Broncos significantly pumped up the guaranteed money from an offer that Miller and his representatives turned down in June. This will be their last chance to do so.
The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term extensions was Friday at 4 p.m. ET.
The reigning Super Bowl MVP’s deal is worth a reported $114.5 million with $70 million of that guaranteed, reports ESPN. But with a finger pointed at the market, Miller and his representatives flagged Cox’s six-year, $102.6 million deal with the Eagles.
Last season Miller made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time in his career, in addition to winning the Super Bowl MVP Award. He had 11 sacks, four forced fumbles, 35 tackles in the regular season a year ago and had five sacks, two forced fumbles and an interception in the playoffs, Fox Sports noted. During the game, in the first quarter, on a 3rd and 10 play at the 15 yard line, Miller sacked Panther’s quarterback Cam Newton, knocking the ball out of his hands, which was picked up by Bronco’s defensive tackle Malik Jackson and scored it for a touchdown.
The NFL Players Association is often criticized for accepting the franchise tag, but it’s easy to see why fighting the franchise tag is not a high priority for the union, as 99 percent of the union’s membership will never get franchised, and it’s really not such a bad deal for the 1 percent. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who recently signed his own deal, will be getting $87 million guaranteed. Bills officials announced the suspension Friday but did not specify how Williams violated the league’s substance abuse policy. And during Week 16 of that same season, he suffered an ACL injury.
Miller, who skipped out on all of the Broncos offseason practices, said he’s excited to “get back to work”.
At the beginning of the 2015 season, it appeared Miller would be competing with Chiefs outside linebacker Justin Houston in contract value.
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Ultimately, Miller had little choice but to sign Denver’s best and final offer.
