Sean Keeler: Broncos bring Von Miller home? Sorry. Broncos Country's not big enough for Sean Payton, Vonster in same locker room.

Sean Keeler, The Denver Post on Mar 11, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DENVER — Sean Payton, bless him, possesses all the gooey nostalgia of a starving polar bear. To you, Von Miller is a legend who lives in hearts and closets forever. To Payton, he’s a 36-year-old who’s been stealing money from the Buffalo Bills for months.

There is a time and a place for a Vonster reunion in Denver. But that place is not a Dove Valley where Payton is the sheriff, which means that time is sure as heck not now. This town ain’t big enough for the two of them.

The Broncos found the map to the playoffs again by getting with the times, splurging for a coach with gravitas and then handing him a giant chainsaw to shape and grind this locker room to his will.

Miller, one of the NFL’s biggest free agent cuts, was the face of this franchise for almost a decade. Payton is the sunny face of the Broncos now. You think he’s going to cede that status to an outside linebacker who’s racked up just 14 sacks over his last 41 appearances?

To you, the Vonster is the missing, veteran piece of the next Super Bowl puzzle. To Payton, he’s a 250-pound roadblock who’d be in the way of younger, cheaper defenders.

The Broncos ranked 30th among NFL teams in edge-rusher spending in 2024 ($11.752 million), per OverTheCap.com. They also squeezed 44 of their NFL-best 63 sacks from their top four outside linebackers at that position. That included 10 from the rotational combo of then-rookie Jonah Elliss (5.0) and UFL gem Dondrea Tillman (5.0).

Elliss turns 22 in April. Tillman turns 27 a few weeks later. Jonathan Cooper (10.5 sacks) celebrated his 27th birthday in January. Nik Bonitto (13.5 sacks), last fall’s revelation, turns 26 in September.

Payton and general manager George Paton aren’t exactly keeping it a secret: They want an already killer defense to get younger, leaner, meaner and more athletic across the board.

Monday’s first two major free-agent signings, on paper, fall right in line with the masterplan. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw, formerly of San Francisco, is one of those wicked sideline-to-sideline hammers with coverage skills, assuming his Achilles is right. Safety Talanoa Hufanga, another newbie, is a banger with a nose for the ball and the eyes of a hawk.

To you, Miller is a big brother type, a mentor who could do for Bonitto and Cooper what DeMarcus Ware did for him a decade ago. To Payton, he’s a minor roster headache.

In addition to being insanely cost-effective, Elliss also played more than 250 snaps on special teams in 2024. Tillman played more than 200. Say you only want to keep four pass-rushers active on game day. Is Vonster going to cover punts?

Hey, we get it. Statistically, Miller’s still got some juice left in the tank, even if the engine doesn’t turn over as frequently as it used to.

The film gurus over at Pro Football Focus gave the Broncos icon an 82.4 grade (out of 100) overall for his work with the Bills last season, and an 83 mark as a pass-rusher.

Of the 16 edge rushers aged 31 or older who played at least 100 snaps last season, only two recorded an 80 or better PFF grade for their toils — Khalil Mack (90.2) and the Vonster. Mack reportedly put up a 14.5% “win rate” over 668 snaps, while Miller’s was 18.4% over half as many plays.

And when a lot of us last saw No. 40, he was all up in Bo Nix’s grill. PFF gave Von an 88.8 grade for his work in Buffalo’s demolition of Denver during wild card weekend two months ago. He landed an 81.2 pass-rush grade thanks to five pressures on 16 pass-rush snaps.

On the other hand, Miller’s 2023 was a mess. The Vonster got suspended four games for a violation of the NFL’s personal-conduct policy and didn’t record a sack that season.

If Miller wants to grab a league-minimum deal, welcome home. If he wants to be for these Broncos what Erik Johnson says he’ll be for the revamped Avalanche, a “vibe” guy at the end of the roster, maybe there’s room to make it work. Although Von, who was in line for a base salary of $17.1 million this fall, is probably still too good for that. And Dove Valley, surely, isn’t sentimental enough to fork over a guaranteed $10 million-$12 million per year to a No. 4 or No. 5 edge rusher.

The Broncos struggled to move on from Super Bowl 50 for so long, in part, because they preferred to lead with their hearts. For Payton, we already know that won’t ever be a problem.

____