Von Miller’s offseason in limbo ended Wednesday night.
The Super Bowl 50 MVP agreed to terms with the Washington Commanders on a contract, six days before they report for training camp in Ashburn, Va. NFL Network was first to report the move.
It brings an end to four months in purgatory for the Denver Broncos’ all-time sack leader, who lingered on the market after the Buffalo Bills released him in March, opting to save $8.4 million on their salary cap rather than bring him back after three seasons in which he logged 11 sacks over 41 games played.
This also means that the Broncos will face Von Miller again, as they did last January in Buffalo. The Commanders are on Denver’s schedule, with the game scheduled for Nov. 30 in Landover, Md. on Sunday Night Football.
Originally billed as a duel of the two quarterbacks from the 2024 NFL Draft who guided their teams to the playoffs as rookies, it now features another juicy storyline.
VON MILLER KNEW A BRONCOS REUNION WASN’T HAPPENING
When Von Miller returned to the Denver area in late May to distribute eyeglasses to local children as part of his Von’s Vision charity, he acknowledged that he wouldn’t be coming back to the Broncos this offseason — even though former teammate Julius Thomas had publicly lobbied for it.
Denver’s edge-rusher room is stacked. Both of its returning starters had double-digit sack totals last year. Backup Dondrea Tillman was among the NFL’s top 20 edge rushers in sack rate. And in the last two draft classes, Denver used mid-round choices on edge rushers: Jonah Elliss in 2024 and Que Robinson this year.
Both Tillman and Robinson dominated during offseason work.
“If you look at it this year, it really doesn’t make sense,” Miller said.
Not only are there the afore-mentioned players, but the room is so crammed that the team traded an edge rusher, Baron Browning, at midseason last year.
“They got two really, really good rushers that are best in the league. And with Jonathan Cooper and Nik Bonitto, they are incredible rushers,” Miller said. “And the guys underneath them, they come in, they produce sacks too, and they play special teams.”
At this point in his career, he doesn’t play in that phase.
Meanwhile, Washington’s leading returning sacker, Frankie Luvu, had just eight sacks last year. No one else coming back to the team had more than five sacks in 2024. There’s a path to playing time for Von Miller in the DMV, and they fit his goal of being a contender, falling one game short of Super Bowl LIX last season.
