Broncos star pass rusher Von Miller would have "absolutely" skipped the 2016 season without a long-term deal, Miller's agent and principal negotiator Joby Branion said Tuesday.
"A lot of people think it's bluster and all that -- and sometimes it is," Branion said on Pro Football Talk Live. "In this case, no. It wouldn't have made any sense. I treat (Von) like my own son and if in fact this were my son I would tell him that you can't afford to play under the franchise tag ... he's a guy that deserves to be in the $19-, $20-, $21-million dollar range. It would make no sense at all for one year and $14 million."
Branion also addressed a report from KUSA-TV in Denver about the agent formally requesting a trade as negotiations became tense.
"I make it a practice to not go into the specifics of what was said and wasn't said during the course of negotiations, but what I will say is that over the course of negotiations, you know, all options were discussed at one point or another whether it be in passing or not," he said. "With Von, there was the option of signing a deal, there was the option of signing the franchise tag, not playing under the tag, having the tag rescinded as it was done for Josh Norman and another option was a trade. Remember, that's for the club as well. I think all of those options at one point or another were discussed."
Branion had the unenviable task of staring down Broncos president and general manager John Elway, who has an "unorthodox" negotiating style according to Branion. That claim is backed up by plenty of other agents who have worked with or against Elway in the past.
While some players were likely hoping to see Miller set a precedent and sit out the 2016 season, creating a realistic and more powerful retaliation against being franchise tagged, it was Branion who created the proper leverage in order to get the deal done.
Now, Miller gets to play without fear of being tagged again in 2017, which Branion noted in the interview that he expected Denver to do.
While some people label stories like these a departure from the simple joys of the When It Was A Game era, others -- like me -- are fascinated with the minutiae in a moment like this. Miller's case was groundbreaking in that it taught us not only to think about guaranteed money, but the possibility of phony guarantees and the payout schedule of real money. We can't wait until next July to do this again and learn something else.
