According to Mike Klis of 9News, Von Miller called Gary Kubiak earlier this week and informed him that he will not be attending the Broncos’ offseason workouts without a long-term contract in hand.
Denver’s All-Pro pass rusher is currently under the team’s franchise tag, which would pay him $14.129 million in 2016, but Miller is looking to be the league’s highest-paid defender. Based on some reports, he’s looking to make as much as $20 million a year, if not more. The Broncos have stood strong, so far, in their mission to keep Miller below the $19.062 million Ndamukong Suh got from the Dolphins last offseason.
According to Klis, John Elway‘s last offer to Miller was for around $18 million a year.
With such a large gap between the two parties, it would be surprising if a deal got done any time soon, meaning that Miller could be away from the Broncos well into the offseason. To be fair, though, that shouldn’t be coming as much of a surprise to the Broncos or their fans; the same happened with the last three players the Broncos franchise tagged — Demaryius Thomas, Ryan Clady and Matt Prater.
All three eventually ended up with a long-term deal, and the Broncos and Miller hope to end their negotiations similarly. Klis says that negotiations have remained ongoing and that the two sides have talked and exchanged proposals as recently as last week.
Nonetheless, the clock is ticking. If July 15 comes and goes with no long-term deal signed, Miller will be forced to play under the franchise tag or not play at all.
