Broncos Contracts

Per Jason:

The final two years of the contract are option seasons. Denver has until the final day of the prior League year to pick up each option season. If the options are exercised Miller will have $6 million and $7 million of his 2020 and 2021 salaries become guaranteed.

As we've discussed before, this has become modus operandi for the Broncos in negotiating major extensions.  Such team options also exist on the extended contracts of Demaryius Thomas, Derek Wolfe, and Brandon Marshall.  The purpose of a team option like this is to have the contract void instead terminated should the Broncos wish to part ways at that time.  Such contract voids allow the player to qualify for the compensatory pick formula, of which the Patriots took heavy advantage of for their 2016 comp pick slate.  The Ravens also set up a similar option on Mike Wallace this offseason.  As long as this loophole in the formula exists, I expect the Broncos, Ravens, and Patriots to continue to exploit it, and other teams may soon follow suit.Read more...

UPDATE (2:30 PM MT): Miller actually got a $17 million signing bonus and $6 million roster bonus in 2016.  This post has been corrected to adjust accordingly. Per contract details reported by Mike Klis, the breakdown of Von Miller's new six-year, $114.5 million extension will looks similar to this:

Year	Salary/Roster Bonus* (Gtd)	Prorated Bonus	Cap Number	Dead Money (pre 6/1)	Cap Savings
2016	$8,000,000	$3,400,000	$11,400,000	$42,000,000	($30,600,000)
2017	$17,000,000	$3,400,000	$20,400,000	$30,600,000	($10,100,000)
2018	$19,000,000	$3,400,000	$22,400,000	$29,800,000	($6,800,000)
2019	$17,500,000	$3,400,000	$20,900,000	$15,800,000	$5,100,000
2020	$18,000,000	$3,400,000	$21,400,000	$3,400,000	$18,000,000
2021	$18,000,000		$18,000,000	$0	$18,000,000

*Klis did not specify the breakdown between base salary and roster bonuses in his report, but for purposes of the salary cap this is irrelevant.  What it will mean is that Miller gets more money in his pocket before each season starts from whatever money is assigned to the roster bonus in question. Let's take a look at the facts, and then I'll cast some opinions on what it could it could mean for the Broncos' future:

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With negotiations between the Broncos and Emmanuel Sanders reportedly on hold (per Mike Klis), most likely due to the real deadline for Von Miller heating up, and details of Doug Baldwin's extension with the Seahawks now up on OTC, I figured I'd ponder a possible contract for Sanders to think about over the weekend.

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It took quite a while for this information to come out, but Jason got it up to OTC last night:Read more...

Since I wrote this late last night, I'll start this post off as a reminder to first read my initial take on what Fletcher Cox's extension means for Von Miller.  This morning, I also want to focus on something that Mike Klis published this morning regarding his own thoughts on how Cox's deal affect's Miller's.Read more...

Adam Schefter got the news kicked off on reporting Fletcher Cox's extension: six years, $103 million, $63 million guaranteed.  Mike Florio then followed up by giving out details of the deal.  Cox's contract table has already been updated on Over The Cap. This deal comes off the heels of Florio posting an opinion on the Von Miller negotiations, one that raised some eyebrows from Jason Fitzgerald, among others.  In reporting the details of Cox's contract, Florio also crows a bit on that opinion piece, stating the following:

As noted earlier, this deal will make Broncos linebacker Von Miller very happy, giving him an apples-to-apples comparison that the Broncos will have a hard time characterizing as an anomaly or an aberration.

How does this opinion delivered by Florio stack up?  Let's take a closer look. Read more...

On Monday, at a joyous occasion at the White House, Von Miller said cheery things while standing next to Gary Kubiak:

We’ve made real progress over the last couple of days. I’m very optimistic about the whole thing.

On Wednesday, Miller and the Broncos traded some barbs privately via the media:

"Contract talks with Von Miller reach impasse after Broncos deadline passes without deal" --Mike Klis "Not to say it can't get done, but it will be very difficult for Denver and Von Miller to reach long-term agreement by July 15 deadline." --Adam Schefter

I hope you didn't too optimistic on Monday, and I hope you didn't get too pessimistic on Wednesday.  This is just another step in the long progress of extending one of the NFL's best players.Read more...

The server issues delayed this brief update, so I'll go ahead and squeeze this brief article out now.  Tuesday was the last day that signed UFAs could become CFAs, so we now know the maximum number of players relevant to the Broncos that could qualify for the 2017 compensatory formula.Read more...

John Elway often says he wants “to win from now on”.  It’s an objective that he is excelling at, and in order to do so, it involves thinking many steps ahead.  So although the 2016 season isn’t even in the books yet, it’s important to keep tabs on a few things for 2017, even with the understanding that what happens in 2016 has the potential to change plans.Read more...

With the draft now over, the Broncos front office, like most of the NFL, will likely be eager to take a bit of a vacation as they approach the dead part of the NFL offseason. However, whenever they get back to work the next task on the plate will be possible extensions of veterans, and none loom bigger over the Broncos than Von Miller.  So with all that's changed since I last addressed the subject, I thought I'd dump some thoughts on where this negotiation stands now.Read more...