The ice is thawing between Von Miller and the Broncos
The Denver Broncos and Von Miller seemingly realize something, with their July 15 deadline coming up fast.
The Broncos need Miller. And Miller needs the Broncos.
According to ESPN’s Ed Werder the Broncos and Miller planned to meet Friday, one week before the deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign a long-term deal. There have been plenty of nasty things said through the process, like contract details being leaked, Miller’s passive aggressive protest of cropping Broncos GM John Elway out of an Instagram photo and Miller letting it be known he won’t play for the franchise tag in 2016.
But we know how the drill works. May and June is for sniping at each other in the media and weeks of doomsday stories about how Player X will never play for Team Y again. Then July comes around and everyone gets down to business.
Perhaps there won’t be an agreement, since there was an extreme difference in the amount of guaranteed money Miller wants and what the Broncos are offering. The Eagles’ massive deal to defensive tackle Fletcher Cox couldn’t have helped negotiations. But it’s hard to believe Miller would really not sign the $14 million tag and sit out all season, and it’s weird the Broncos are low-balling the Super Bowl 50 MVP on guaranteed money. It’s also hard to believe there’s not a middle ground where Miller becomes insanely rich and the Broncos lock up their best player for the foreseeable future.
The two sides hadn’t talked for a few weeks before last weekend, when Elway reportedly reached out to Miller. Friday’s meeting will be another step in the process. Nobody will be surprised if sometime before next Friday’s deadline, Miller is smiling alongside Elway after he agrees to a deal that’s about six years and $114.5 million (Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported in early June that Miller agreed to those terms; the impasse is all about guaranteed money).
It looked bad in June, but communication lines are open again. The two sides need each other too much for next week’s deadline to pass without a deal being done.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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