'Dancing' to the bank: Von Miller gets his deal with Broncos

The Von Miller Victory Tour has one more stop: the Denver Broncos’ headquarters, to sign his long-awaited, well-earned new contract.

Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported Miller and the Broncos agreed to a six-year contract. Previous reports indicated the total of the deal would be about $114 million with about $70 million guaranteed.

Mike Klis of KUSA has a breakdown of the contract, which makes Miller the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history – the total is $114.5 million, and Miller receives $23 million in upfront cash, by way of a signing or roster bonus. In 2016, he receives a total of $25 million (upfront cash plus $2 million salary), all fully guaranteed; in 2017, his salary and bonuses are $17 million, again fully guaranteed; in 2018, Miller’s salary and bonuses total $19 million, currently with an injury-only guarantee, which becomes fully guaranteed on March 17, 2017, for a total of $61 million over the first three years.

In 2019, Miller is slated to received $17.5 million in salary and bonuses, again currently with an injury-only guarantee, but slated to become fully guaranteed in March 2018. Miller will average $18 million a year in salary and bonuses for 2020-2021, and that money has no guarantees.

That guarantee is the second-highest in league history, behind only what quarterback Andrew Luck received from the Indianapolis Colts signed less than three weeks ago. Miller’s agency confirmed on Twitter he is now the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history.

Miller tweeted out a happy message moments after the deal became official:

The Super Bowl 50 MVP has been all over the country since leading the Broncos to victory over the Carolina Panthers in February, from the late-night talk-show circuit to a good run on “Dancing with the Stars” to a cover of ESPN the Magazine’s Body Issue to “Celebrity Family Feud” with fellow NFL players, and in recent days, the ESPYs and Nickelodeon Kids Choice Sports Awards.

But while he was making his star turn, things between Miller and the Broncos were not so placid. Miller had an All-Pro season in a contract year, and was even better in the playoffs, making it an easy decision for Denver to place the franchise tag on him. But Miller understandably wanted more than just the one-year tag, and as recently as four weeks ago declared on Instagram that he would not play the 2016 season on the franchise tag:

However, Miller also told comedian Chelsea Handler on her show that he was hoping for a positive resolution with the Broncos, who drafted him second overall in 2011.

But both of those came after Miller rejected a deal from Denver that was also for six years and $114 million but did not include enough guaranteed money. As any fan knows by now, guaranteed money is pretty much all that matters when it comes to NFL player contracts.

Even though Miller is presumably satisfied with the deal he’s getting from Denver, it will be interesting to see if the negotiations affect his relationship with Broncos general manager John Elway, especially since it was leaked on Thursday night that the $70 million in guaranteed money offered by Denver is $25 million more than the Broncos paid Elway during his 16-year career (which ended nearly 20 years ago, by the way, long before the NFL was getting nearly $2 billion a year from ESPN for that network to air one game a week).