If there was doubt about how tremendous of a player Von Miller was before tonight, I think that's all gone now. The Denver Broncos have won Super Bowl 50, and guess who walked away with MVP honors? That's right, Mr. Miller. All this means now is that he's about to become one of the richest defensive players in the NFL, if not the richest ever.
Last offseason, the Miami Dolphins signed Ndamukong Suh to the biggest contract for a defensive player in NFL history, maxing out at $114 million, with $59.955 guaranteed over six years.
Miller has a real chance at topping that.
In just five seasons, the 6-foot-3, 250-pound pass-rushing outside linebacker has racked up 60 sacks in just 72 total games! That's absolutely incredible. By comparison, Lawrence Taylor, commonly regarded as the top pass-rushing outside linebacker and one of the most disruptive defensive forces ever, had 61.5 in his first five NFL seasons in which sacks were recorded (rookie year in 1981 did not have sacks recorded, though, he has an unofficial tally of 9.5).
What that means is that Miller is about to become a very wealth man. At worst-case scenario for him, he's going to franchise tagged by the Broncos, which will give him a payout of the average of the top five players at his position. Honestly, that would not work out in his best interest, as that'd only be around $11-12 million based on the 3-4 outside linebackers in the NFL.
The Broncos know that, though, and obviously want to get as team friendly of a deal here. And they could franchise tag him for two years in a row and get a good price.
I have a feeling that wouldn't make Miller too happy of a camper, though, which isn't a good thing either. So moving forward, I expect the Broncos and Miller's agent to work out a long-term deal that benefits everyone. But Miller has goals of becoming the highest paid defensive player in the league history, per SB Nation and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Aside from Miller's very obvious impact on the football field and his undeniable statistics so far in his career, winning Super Bowl MVP is going to be a huge bargaining chip for his party. If he doesn't outdo Suh's huge contract, perhaps he'll earn the largest 3-4 outside linebacker contract in NFL history, surpassing the Kansas City Chiefs' Justin Houston.
