Would Von Miller actually ask the Broncos for a trade?
Sep 24, 2019, 6:38 AM | Updated: 10:35 am
The Broncos are 0-3 to start the 2019 season. During the last 40 years in the NFL, 176 teams have started 0-3 and only six of those teams made the playoffs. Like it or not Broncos Country, this team doesn’t seem to be destined to play in the postseason in 2019.
Instead, they are building for the future. They are finally rebuilding – whether they like it or not – and it looks to be a painful process but a necessary one.
Miller has to be frustrated with this lack of production. And he has to see the writing on the wall for the direction this team is going in 2019.
Would Miller actually ask for a trade? Let’s take a look.
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Troubling Trend
The landscape of the NFL is constantly changing. One new trend in the NFL is that players are not shy when it comes to demanding trades to get them out of a situation they don’t want to be in.
We saw this earlier this year with former Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown. He was released by the Raiders and some felt it was an effort to get to the Patriots – a team the Steelers would not trade him to earlier in the offseason. Brown did get signed by the Patriots, but only played one game for them before his off-field drama proved to be too much for the team to handle.
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Another player demanding a trade – but he has yet to be traded – is Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey. The frustrated and talented cornerback would likely bring a high price tag if the Jaguars were to find a willing partner. There are rumblings about the team’s asking price being two, first-round picks for Ramsey – a price that no team is yet interested in paying. There’s also rumblings about a team like the Ravens showing interest yet no trade has materialized at this point.
Is Miller so disgruntled that he would follow the actions of these two players? I believe that he is upset and frustrated with the lack of sacks and wins in 2019.
Miller keeps talking about how these games are “double losses” for him as his job is to get sacks. However, I do not think that would compel him to demand a trade.
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Fangio Fit
Some are starting to question whether or not Miller even fits the system that Vic Fangio has in place on defense. I feel that’s an incorrect notion because Miller is the type of player who has succeeded in all sorts of defensive systems. He’s played at a larger weight, he’s lined up inside at times, he’s lost weight and worked from the edge and Miller has been incredibly productive throughout his career.
I asked Fangio whether or not it was accurate to suggest that Miller is not a good fit for his defense.
“I don’t think that’s correct because really he’s playing basically the same way he’s played in his whole career,” Fangio said.
Miller and Fangio will get this figured out. Fangio has a beautiful mind when it comes to crafting a defense in the NFL. He’s been incredibly successful with players who have similar skill sets to that of Miller.
When Fangio was the linebacker coach of the Saints, all four of his linebackers made the Pro Bowl in the same season (1992). That group had two great outside linebackers in Rickey Jackson and Pat Swilling. While Bradley Chubb is built more like Jackson, Miller is built like Swilling – who led the NFL in sacks under the guidance of Fangio in the early 90s.
Miller is a fit for this system because Fangio knows how to be creative with the various talent he has on the defensive side of the ball. For months, Miller has been telling people on the record and off the record how much he loves playing for Fangio. It doesn’t seem like that would all of a sudden change because of frustrating losses.
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Tension Building?
On Monday, Fangio was asked about how one keeps the tension from building in the locker room when a season is off to a bad start.
“I think that’s the landscape of the NFL. For us to just have our heads in the sand and know that may not happen would be bad on our part, so we have to talk about it. I think we have the right kind of guys in here and I think after we talk about it, everybody will move forward with the right frame of mind,” Fangio said.
I’m in that locker room multiple times per week and I don’t get the sense that tension is building. Are they down? Yes, especially after the Bears loss. Are they frustrated? Sure, at least some players are if not all of them to a certain degree.
However, the locker room does not seem toxic at this point. I’ve seen that locker room have that vibe in years past, and this 2019 team is far from getting to that extreme.
Miller himself is still his lively personality inside the locker room. During the week, you can see him smiling or playing games with his teammates in the locker room. Miller takes winning seriously and he has fun playing football. During the week, Miller still looks like he’s having fun – now that needs to transfer over to game day in the form of sacks and production.
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Summary
Never say never in the NFL, but I do not believe that Miller would push for a trade. This is a separate discussion about whether or not Miller should be traded away, it’s about him, his frustration and would he try to find a way out of Denver.
“We’ve got the players here to win. I believe in these players, I enjoy being around them every day. They’re a bunch of good guys. They’re trying their butts off. We just have to play a little bit better. Along with that, we have to coach better. If we’re breaking down fundamentally in certain areas at critical times, that is an indictment on us as coaches too, not just the players,” Fangio said.
That locker room is full of guys who believe in each other. I don’t see Miller as a player that would abandon ship just because things are not going the way he wants them to.
