Denver Broncos general manager John Elway reached out to linebacker Von Miller over the July 4th weekend to share his desire to work out a long-term deal, ESPN reported.
The two sides have until July 15 to negotiate a deal or Miller could end up sitting out the entire season.
According to Adam Schefter, Elway and Miller spoke for about 10-15 minutes about the contract, and Elway told Miller he still loves him and wants to re-sign him. Elway also said the Broncos were going to reach out to Miller’s agents and try to get a deal done in the next 10 days before the deadline hits.
People from around the league believe Elway made the phone call because he didn’t want there to be any hard feelings between Miller and the organization. According to Schefter, many felt the personal call had to happen.
Miller has publicly stated that he does not want to play under the $14 million dollar franchise tag this season, and while the two sides have agreed to the framework of a deal, Miller won’t sign unless he is given more guaranteed money.
While it’s important for Elway to sign Miller, it’s also important that Elway show to the rest of the league that he’s a general manager high-profile players want to play for. If the narrative ends up being that Miller is in the right and he is in the wrong, that could hurt the long-term future of the organization.
The clock is ticking, and that’s normally when deals get done. We’ll see if that holds true here.
