Last week, the Denver Broncos and Von Miller finally agreed to terms on a six-year, $114.5 million contract. The contract includes a $17 million signing bonus and $70 million of guaranteed money in his first two years. Through this contact, no only has Miller become the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL, he might have changed the franchise tag’s effectiveness on all players.
“Now future players who will find themselves in a situation similar to Von’s, will have the upper hand during contract negotiations; where the bottomline could be ‘look if I don’t get paid then I will sit out for a season,’” Mario Sanelli said on The Final Word on Mile High Sports Radio AM 1340 | FM 104.7
By hard ball, Miller showed that management doesn’t hold all the power in contract negotiations with a player of his stature.
“I think when the next collective bargaining agreement is negotiated between the league and the player association, the Von Miller contract and all that went into making that deal go through will serve as a benchmark for reconfiguring or maybe even eliminating the franchise tag, which right now is an incredibly team friendly aspect of the current CBA,” said Sanelli.
Changing the franchise tag was never Miller’s goal; it was always to get the deal signed. However, the Broncos had no other but to pay Miller when he threatened to sit out.
“Not paying him would of sent shock waves through the locker room,” said Sanelli, “it would have debilitated the organization and future contract negotiations with their own free agents, and scare off big name players on the open market into joining the Broncos because the narrative would of been, ‘Well if they are not giving their best player what he wants, and more so what Von Miller earned, then why would they do it for me and why should I play for the Broncos?’”
To hear more Von Miller talk, listen to the full discussion below…
https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/7-17-16-the-final-word-gets-mario-senellis-inital-thoughts-on-the-von-miller-deal
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