Photo Credit: Ron Chenoy/ USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Broncos are headed into the new season without either of their starting quarterbacks from last season. Peyton Manning decided to retire after the team’s Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers while Brock Osweiler chose to sign with the Houston Texans. The team is expecting to start Mark Sanchez who has had quite the fumbling past. If that was not enough for Broncos fans to worry about at night, it appears contract negotiations with star linebacker Von Miller have turned ugly.
Miller and the Broncos still have not been able to reach a deal on a new contract with the two sides supposedly disagreeing about the guaranteed money of the contract. The team offered the linebacker a six-year deal worth $114 million which would make him the highest paid defensive player. Miller turned the contract down as only $38.9 million was guaranteed while defensive end Olivier Vernon’s deal with the New York Giants had $52.5 million guaranteed.
Frustrated with the current situation, Miller took to his social media accounts to announce that despite having nothing but love for his coaches and teammates, he would not play under the franchise tag. He does remain optimistic and hopeful for a deal to get done. While on Chelsea Handler’s new show “Chelsea“, Miller told the comedian that he wants to stay with Denver and does not want to sit out in the regular season over a contract dispute.
Enough is enough already Denver. This man is a game-changing player and one of the best defensive players in the entire league. He deserves to get paid like a man who won his team a Super Bowl trophy. It is smart of the Broncos to be hesitant about throwing the bank at Miller who has had a few injuries in the past, but he has the talent to disrupt offenses on his own. When he surrounded by other talented defensive players like Brandon Marshall and DeMarcus Ware, the Broncos defense is one of the best in the league. Miller has already shown tremendous growth after being suspended for breaking the league’s substance abuse policy in 2013 and staying out of trouble since then. It is time for the Broncos to put their pride aside and pay the leader of their defense as they try to defend their title.
