Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller now has a sack in each of the first three weeks of the 2024 season. He has been quick off the ball and has been a nightmare for offensive tackles at times.
That hasn’t always been the case, though. In 2023, Miller posted zero sacks while trying to work back from a torn ACL on Thanksgiving day in 2022. 33-years-old at the time of the injury, coaches and personnel around the team had an idea that it would take a while to return to form.
The fans didn’t see it that way. As Miller kept throwing up duds, the concern started to creep in. The main concern was the money tied up in Miller. Ahead of the 2021 season, he signed a lucrative six-year, $120 million contract. Sure, there was an out after three years to get out of the deal, but if all the Bills received from that deal was eight healthy games before Thanksgiving, that would be detrimental to the team’s cap without providing anything on the field of play.
So, after the 2023 season general manager Brandon Beane and the Bills had a decision to make. Simply cutting Miller was out of the question due to the dead cap they would’ve had to pay. So, the team got creative.
He essentially took a pay cut and bet on himself to perform again. According to Spotrac, he and the Bills agreed to reduce his 2024 base salary from $17.145M to $1.5M. He also signed a $7M roster bonus. But the real kicker was the sack incentives. There are six sack thresholds for bonuses in the renegotiated contract:
- 2: $1M
- 4: $2.5M
- 6: $4M
- 8: $6M
- 10.5: $8.645M
- 15: $9.645M
There is also a $1.5M bonus for an AFC Championship win.
Von Miller has certainly proved his worth to begin the 2024 season. What happens beyond this year is very much in question, but after three weeks he is already up to three sacks and is striking fear in offensive tackles.
On Monday night, Jaguars’ offensive tackle Walker Little had a false start matched up with Miller, trying to get out quickly to block him. Immediately after the false start, Miller shot around the edge to sack Trevor Lawrence and put the game on ice. He also put the Week 2 game on ice with the same speed around the edge, sacking Miami Dolphins’ QB Skylar Thompson.
Although he is playing in a rotation, Miller is as efficient as it gets. “The Closer” is proving he still has enough juice to play at a high level. Opposing quarterbacks will have to keep an eye out for when Miller jogs onto the field. We know the offensive tackles will be well aware of his presence.