Before Von Miller committed to the Commanders last year, he reached out to the Broncos to gauge interest. His initial NFL team did not make an offer, and Denver’s defense proceeded to lead the NFL in sacks. Miller, however, bounced back with a productive year in Washington and intends to play a 16th season.
The future Hall of Fame pass rusher tallied a Commanders-high nine sacks; no other Washington defender eclipsed six during a 5-12 season. Miller notched his most sacks and QB hits (15) in a season since respectively registering 9.5 and 17 in 2021, a campaign in which the Broncos traded him to the Rams at the deadline. The Rams rallied for a Super Bowl LVI win that year, with Miller playing a key role, while the Broncos added current sack ace Nik Bonitto with one of the picks from the Miller haul.
Miller, 37, expressed interest in rejoining the Broncos earlier this offseason. He recently revealed he has lobbied the team for a reunion. The Broncos have Bonitto and sidekick Jonathon Cooper tied to long-term extensions, and Miller — who received offers from the Commanders and Seahawks last year — is open to coming back as an auxiliary rusher.
“I lobbied, I do lobby, I lobbied publicly, privately, so I lobbied,” Miller said, via ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold. “I think there’s no question the type of environment I bring to a locker room, I think there’s no question to the type of environment I bring to a team.
“… I would love to bring back those Super Bowl 50 vibes, love to assist, to be the vice president to Bo Nix, to Courtland Sutton. I’ve been the guy and also I’ve been the vice president. … I would love to contribute to us getting back to the glory land, to holding up that trophy. I would love to come back home and do that for the organization that has given me so much.”
Pass rushers in Miller’s class have reunited with their original teams in the past. Julius Peppers rejoined the Panthers in 2017, playing his age-37 and age-38 seasons with the club that drafted him, while Jason Taylor had three stints with the Dolphins. Calais Campbell‘s lengthy post-prime period brought a reunion with the Cardinals, and he is now back with the Ravens. Peppers and Taylor respectively sit fourth and seventh on the all-time sack list. Miller is ninth, with his Commanders season running his career total to 138.5. Miller is one behind Taylor and three behind Michael Strahan, who sits sixth in NFL history in official sacks.
Although Miller helped the Rams to their second Super Bowl title and showed flashes with the Bills — a team he is also interested in rejoining — he will certainly be best remembered for his 11-season Broncos tenure. The former No. 2 overall pick is the Broncos’ all-time sack leader, and he landed on the 2010s’ All-Decade team. Miller anchored Denver’s pass rush for most of his career, teaming with Elvis Dumervil, DeMarcus Ware and Bradley Chubb. All eight of the Super Bowl 50 MVP’s Pro Bowl nods came with the Broncos.
Nearly five years after Miller’s Denver departure, the team is well stocked at edge rusher. Bonitto is tied to a $26.5MM-per-year extension, while Cooper is at $13MM AAV. The team has Jonah Elliss, Dondrea Tillman and Que Robinson as auxiliary options. Elliss, however, is working part-time at inside linebacker — where his two NFL-playing brothers are stationed elsewhere — and Denver did not add an EDGE in the draft. But Elliss’ move is aimed at clearing a path for Robinson, a 2025 fourth-round pick who played sparingly as a rookie.
The Broncos have also moved Drew Sanders back to an OLB role, according to The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider. Sanders has struggled with injuries since being a 2023 third-round pick and has shuffled between ILB and OLB in his career.
It is rather interesting the Broncos are trying Sanders back on the edge while giving Elliss a look inside, but both players offer potential depth at each linebacker spot. That protects the Broncos, even if a Miller return would conceivably help in the sack department after the 2025 team (68 sacks ) made a run at the 1984 Bears’ single-season record (72).
While Miller has described his market as “quiet,” he said (via Legwold) he is intent on playing in 2026. It will be interesting to see where the four-team veteran ends up. He joins Cameron Jordan, Joey Bosa, Haason Reddick and former teammate Leonard Floyd among available 30-something edge rushers.
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