Five for Franchising
Von Miller on Tuesday became the fifth player in Denver Broncos franchise history to be hit with the franchise tag – a designation that will keep the Super Bowl MVP in Denver for a year, guarantee him top-five money at his position and give both sides more time to work out a long-term deal.
That seems to be the ultimate goal for the team and the player. Both history and general manager John Elway’s comments back up that sentiment.
“Designating Von as our franchise player gives us the time to continue working toward a long-term agreement,” Elway said via the team website. “We’ve had productive talks with Von’s representation, and we’ll continue those discussions with the goal of making sure Von remains a Bronco well into the future.”
As James Merilatt wrote on Monday, the franchise tag has been essentially a stall tactic for Elway, as all three of his previous franchise tag designations have ultimately signed long-term deals that same year. The fifth predated Elway as GM, but also signed long-term (the following year).
The return on investment on those long-term deals, however, has been less than stellar. In this week’s edition of Power Rankings, we look at which franchise players have proved most valuable once their long-term deals were in place.
