Von Miller still loves the Broncos, but that doesn’t mean they need to bring him back for an encore

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Von Miller is likely one of the four Broncos you’d put on the team’s Mount Rushmore. The club’s all-time sack leader and Super Bowl 50 MVP will inevitably take his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, to go along with a Broncos Ring of Fame spot that should come to him at the moment he becomes eligible.

Now with the Buffalo Bills, he’ll face his former team for the second time this Sunday in the wild-card showdown in Orchard Park, N.Y. And while he’ll wear a charging buffalo on his helmet, he carries the Broncos in his heart.

No hard feelings remain from the team trading him to the Los Angeles Rams at midseason of 2021. Nor should there, really; after all, the swap made Miller a core component of another Super Bowl-winning side.

“I love everything about the Denver Broncos.” Miller said. “I pay close attention to the Denver Broncos. You know I haven’t even talked to Bo Nix or follow him on Instagram or nothing like that and I feel like I know Bo Nix just by staying in touch with Broncos Country and staying in touch with the Broncos. I know they’re building a new facility. They got new jerseys. All the new players from, from [Marvin] Mims and all the guys. Never met these guys but I feel like I’ve met them because I … pay close attention to the Denver Broncos.”

His comments stirred the passion of Broncos Country on Wednesday, to the point where comments about a potential return to the Broncos circulated throughout social media.

Buffalo could save $17.5 million of cap space by releasing him this year with a post-June 1 designation. Miller has 6 sacks this season in a rotational role been productive on a limited basis. His pass-rush win rate is 10th-best in the NFL among edge rushers with at least 100 pass-rush snaps, per Pro Football Focus. But that doesn’t mean he’s worth the $23,874,000 cap figure that looms for Buffalo in 2025.

So, it seems reasonable to assume Von Miller could be on the market in the coming months. And that notion stirs longing in the hearts of many Broncos fans.

But here’s the problem: Realistically, there isn’t a place for him on the team in the near future.

THE BRONCOS ALREADY GO FOUR-DEEP WITH QUALITY EDGE RUSHERS

No reasonable person will say that the Broncos’ edge quartet of Nik Bonitto, Jonathon Cooper, Jonah Elliss and Dondrea Tillman matches up to what the team possessed in the Super Bowl 50 run, when it had Von Miller, DeMarcus Ware, Shaquil Barrett and Shane Ray. Ware is a Hall of Famer. Miller will get there one day. Barrett became an All-Pro after leaving for Tampa Bay via free agency. Ray was poised to blossom before injuries derailed him.

But the Broncos are in the best position they’ve been at this key spot since the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Bonitto is a Pro Bowler; Cooper has a four-year contract extension and 19 sacks over the last two years. Elliss and Tillman — both in their first NFL seasons with three more years of team control — are promising. And Tillman — who arrived from the United Football League in the summer — actually leads Broncos edge rushers in pressure rate, according to Next Gen Stats and Pro Football Focus.

Miller has a higher pressure rate than any Broncos edge — 17.9 percent. But his hit rate of one QB hit or sack every 24.3 pass-rush snaps would rank below both Bonitto and Tillman.

The Broncos’ depth on the edge allowed them to trade Baron Browning to Arizona one day before the league’s trade deadline. It also helped spur the decision to give Drew Sanders more repetitions at inside linebacker after working with the edge rushers upon his return from the physically-unable-to-perform list.

It’s a similar situation to the one that befell another NFL legend 20 years ago. Jerry Rice arrived in Denver during the 2005 offseason to the fanfare befitting his status as the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history. But by the time he arrived in Denver for his 21st NFL training camp, he no longer possessed the burst to gain separation — even though his route-running remained precise.

Rice made the Broncos roster, but as the No. 4 receiver. That meant he would be inactive on game days, as fourth receivers must also have a special-teams role, and Rice’s special-teams days were long in the rear-view mirror. He hadn’t returned a punt in nearly 20 years.

Thus, Rice retired.

Bringing back Miller in the near future would be a feel-good moment.

“I think he’s the best pass rusher the NFL has ever seen, in my opinion,” Cooper said. “… Yeah, man, he’s the GOAT.”

 

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But unless injuries decimate the Broncos edge’ corps, there would be no guarantee that their all-time leading sacker would even get a jersey. Like Rice, Miller wouldn’t have a special-teams role, either; he’s played just two snaps in that phase during the last seven seasons.

Nostalgia can be wonderful. Past accomplishments have the capacity to warm the soul on a chilly night. And some day the Broncos will give Miller, a self-proclaimed “Bronco for life” his proper place in the pantheon of team legends.

But Von Miller happens to play a position that the Broncos have stacked well. And that means the Broncos don’t need to call him back for an on-field encore.