The Denver Broncos have traded legendary linebacker Von Miller.
What? How dare they? How dare George Paton ship Miller off when he should have retired as a member of the Broncos. That is what you have been thinking, right?
Von Miller is one of the best Broncos players in team history. His 110.5 sacks is an all-time team record. His MVP performance in Super Bowl 50 will live forever. How could the team trade this guy?
Many fans are not going to look at the positives in this deal or be willing to consider that there are even positives at all. But rest assured, this team is not just giving one of their best players away to be irritating.
Miller was set to become an unrestricted free agent following this season and there was a decent chance that he was not going to be back anyway. On top of that, he was expensive. Very expensive.
He will also be 33 years old in March and though players can still be productive at that age, Von hasn’t necessarily been productive as of late. We can chalk that up to many things.
Vic Fangio didn’t seem to use him to the best of his abilities. But he also seemed to have lost a step and missed all of the 2020 season due to injury. That doesn’t mean he can’t be highly effective in a different defensive scheme, but he was never going to be the player that dominated that Super Bowl game as a member of the Broncos again.
In return, the Broncos received a second-round pick and a third-round pick in next spring’s draft. Fans are going to ask “that’s all”? But to get two day two picks in the draft for a player you may have only had for another nine games (if he played them all) is not a bad return.
Yes, Miller was once chosen with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft. But the Broncos are not going to get a first-round pick in return for an aging player that has an injury history and has shown a decline in his production, whether that seems fair or not.
The Broncos got a good return for Von Miller
Quite frankly, the Broncos got something in return for a player that had an uncertain future with the team. These draft picks can be used in a package deal to move up in next year’s draft for another quarterback or to throw at a team that could be looking to move the one they have, like the Green Bay Packers.
Von Miller will be in the hearts of Broncos fans forever and with good reason. Maybe he can win another Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams, which fans should be happy for him if he does.
If we are honest, this Broncos team is not going anywhere this year and the front office likely knows that and is beginning to try and reshape the organization and set it up for new ownership.
Miller is part of the team’s past. For the Broncos, it is time to move forward and do so with as many future assets as it can. The team did the best it could with this situation if you look at it from the perspective of trading Miller not really being an option.
It needed to be done.