Von Miller trade somehow keeps getting better for Broncos amid 2024 playoff hunt

It's hard to believe it was only three years ago that the Denver Broncos made the incredibly difficult decision to trade franchise legend and Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller. It feels like that was a lifetime ago.

As it turns out, that trade back before the 2021 in-season deadline was the gift that keeps on giving. The Broncos got multiple draft picks from the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in that trade, including a second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That second-round pick would turn out to be Oklahoma pass rusher Nik Bonitto, fittingly selected with a pick acquired in the Von Miller trade.

Now, like Miller before him, Bonitto is making a case in Denver as the NFL defensive player of the year.

Nik Bonitto has been a game-changing defender for Broncos in 2024

Bonitto had his 11th sack of the season against the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football, extending his career year and proving to be one of the most impactful pass rushers in the league. But it was a play in which the Broncos had Bonitto all the way out in the slot in coverage that ended up being one of the best of his NFL career so far.

Bonitto has unofficially had a sack in every game since Week 3 against the Buccaneers. I say "unofficially" because Bonitto actually didn't get credited for a sack on what was officially labeled a tackle for loss on Lamar Jackson against the Ravens. If that play had been counted as a sack, Bonitto would have 11 straight games with at least one sack but instead, he's got 11 sacks in the last 12 games. I think he'll take it.

Bonitto is making his case for NFL Defensive Player of the Year at this point and that's not even hyperbolic at this point. His 11 sacks are impressive, of course, but Bonitto also has the pick-six under his belt and a game-sealing strip-sack last week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

We'll see what kind of impact he can make coming out of the bye week as the Broncos continue their push for the postseason, but Bonitto is proof of how important it is to realize when it's time to move on. That Von Miller trade was made in George Paton's first year on the job as general manager and the fact that he got a 2nd-round pick (and more) out of the deal was a shock to just about everyone.

And this is why you make those kinds of deals, even with the sentimental value attached to players. Bonitto is now the key piece of a Broncos pass rush that is the best in the NFL in 2024.