From ESPN
The Denver Broncos and Von Miller have agreed to the largest contract for a defensive player in league history.
Miller’s agency, Vanguard Sports, announced the deal Friday, and the reigning Super Bowl MVP posted a Twitter photo of himself in a Broncos jersey with the caption “FOR LIFE.”
Miller has agreed to a six-year, $114.5 million contract, sources told ESPN, and will be under contract with the Broncos through the 2021 season. The deal, which ended the sometimes testy negotiations of the past five months, got done when the Broncos significantly pumped up the guaranteed money from an offer Miller and his representatives turned down in June.
Miller gets a $23 million signing bonus and $42 million guaranteed at signing, $61 million guaranteed after the first year and $70 million guaranteed after the second year of the deal, the sources said. Those totals pushed Miller past the guaranteed money Fletcher Cox received in his contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in recent weeks. Cox got more than $36 million at signing, $55 million in the first nine months and $63 million guaranteed by the deal’s third year.
Miller’s contract includes the largest total and the most in guaranteed money for a defensive player. It also pushed Miller into the neighborhood of quarterback contracts in terms of guaranteed money, putting him behind onlyIndianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
Last week, Luck signed a $140 million deal that will pay him $87 million guaranteed.
Miller was designated the team’s franchise player in February, which came with a one-year guaranteed tender of more than $14 million for the 2016 season. But the two sides tried, with some starts and stops, to negotiate a long-term deal after the scouting combine in February.
The Broncos and Miller faced a Friday deadline for franchise players to sign long-term deals before the 2016 season. If Miller had not agreed to a contract, he would have had to decide whether to play under the rules and salary of the franchise player tender or consider sitting out the 2016 season.
In recent weeks negotiations appeared to be stalling, as sources said Miller and his representatives had requested a trade if the Broncos didn’t increase their offer. The Broncos had no intention of trading Miller, who is a cornerstone player in the team’s defense.
The Broncos and Miller’s agent, Joby Branion, had largely agreed to the contract’s six-year length and the total amount before summer. But the Broncos initially offered less guaranteed money overall and sought to largely spread those guarantees over the first three years of the deal.
The Broncos’ offer in June included $39.8 million guaranteed in the first two years — $38.5 million guaranteed money at signing with $1.3 million in workout bonuses. But with a finger pointed at the market, Miller and his representatives flagged Cox’s six-year, $102.6 million deal with the Eagles.
