Denver Broncos: Is Von Miller Stubborn Enough To Sit Out?

Threats of holding out are nothing new during the NFL off-season. Most times players never follow through on their threats, but is Von Miller of the Denver Broncos different?

It’s certainly a subject that must be discussed as news continues to circulate that talks have broken down between the star pass rusher and his teams’ representatives. Things looked positive for a time. Miller had accepted certain parts of the Broncos’ proposed deal but then, somewhere along the line there was an impasse and things got contentious.

League source: Von Miller turned down Broncos offer of 114.5m. Biggest non QB contract ever. Offer hasn’t been pulled. Team now reassessing
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) June 8, 2016

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports helped elaborate.

"“The structure of Miller’s deal is paramount. And now it has ballooned into an undermining factor. The guaranteed money is apparently where everything fell apart between the two sides. And it appears to have gotten much worse since, to the point that there is now a possibility that Miller could sit out the 2016 season entirely.How did it get this dire? Go straight to the numbers. The six-year, $114.5 million deal is far less committed than it sounds. In reality, the contract can be dumped after only two seasons, meaning the Broncos have offered Miller what amounts to be a two-year deal worth $38.5 million guaranteed. Another $1.3 million in unguaranteed money is earnable between those two seasons via a workout bonus. After that, the rest of the deal can be shed at any point.”"

Von Miller would not threaten a holdout if he didn’t think he has leverage. There is no doubt he does. He’s coming off another Pro Bowl season where he had 11 sacks and dominated in the playoffs, capping his year with a Super Bowl MVP award and a Lombardi trophy. There is no doubt without him the Broncos are not world champions. He knows there are 31 other teams in the NFL who would pay through the nose for his services.

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Denver has become an organization known for playing hard ball on contract negotiations and aren’t likely to be pushed around so easily, even by a superstar like Miller. So a holdout to show he serious might be his best option. The question is will he follow through on it? One could argue he doesn’t “need” the money and has little left to prove at this point. Maybe sitting back and seeing how the Broncos fare without him is just the final raising of the stakes he needs.

This question was posed to Sayre Bedinger, who covers the Denver Broncos for Predominantly Orange. His reply was short and succinct.

"“I don’t see Von Miller holding out the 2016 season, and there are over 14 million reasons why. Any human being who is offered $14 million guaranteed is probably going to take it, which Miller will eventually do if he wants to stick it to the Broncos and make them sweat it out next off-season. The Broncos can apply the franchise tag to Miller again next off-season, but it gets considerably more expensive. If the guaranteed money is the holdup in the Miller deal at this point, John Elway simply needs to pony up the cash.”"

As with most things it always comes back to the money. Miller has already made a lot in his career but he’s always thinking about his future and there are only so many seasons he gets to play this game. He must take every chance he can to collect such a hefty paycheck. That won’t happen sitting at home.