The story that had Broncos fans biting their nails all summer finally came to its happy ending last Friday when Super Bowl MVP Von Miller signed a six-year $114.5 million deal to remain a Bronco “for life” as he put it.
The legend of the ‘Vontract‘ took many twists and turns starting from Von stating how peaceful he believed the negotiations would be and turning all the way to Miller’s representatives requesting permission to seek a trade before finally arriving at the desired finish line last week.
But while fans were sweating out every emerging detail, the Broncos that were certain to be wearing the Orange & Blue this upcoming season weren’t losing sleep.
“It was just a matter of when,” Denver safety T.J. Ward said from his charity golf event Monday. “Von has been the face of this team. . . You don’t let a player like Von leave; we knew he’d be back.
“I don’t think anybody was too worried about it,” he added. “I knew we were going to get it done, our teammates knew we were going to get it done, you guys knew we were going to get it done. Von’s not going anywhere, he wasn’t going to go anywhere. Now that it’s official, I’m sure that it’s a relief to a lot of people. . . I’m sure Von may have felt pressure and the fans but we knew he was going to come back, we knew he was going to sign and we’re just glad it got done.”
Miller’s mentor, a man who deserves a bit of credit for the Super Bowl MVP shaping into the player and the person he is today, DeMarcus Ware, shared that sentiment with Ward.
“I think business is business, you have to pull all your cards out and all that but I don’t think there was ever any worry,” explained the nine-time Pro-Bowler. “Happy that he was able to get the business deal closed and happier that we still have our ace in the hole pass-rushing with me.”
Even former teammates weren’t stressing it. Former Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams joined the BSN Broncos Podcast from Ward’s golf tournament on Monday and explained why he never doubted it.
“One of the major guys that is pulling a lot of the strings is [Brocnos vice president of football operations/general manager] [John] Elway, who is an ex-athlete, who is competitive. It’s not two businessmen going at it—I mean, everybody is a businessman at this point in time—but it’s an athlete going against an athlete. You want to win at the end of the day; you can’t make that go away. Elway is an athlete; he wants to win. . . There had to be a little give and take, everybody has to give.”
Now, with Peyton Manning well into his sunset ride, it’s time for Von Miller to take full ownership of the “face of the franchise title.
“I’m sure he will, he doesn’t have a choice, you give him that much money he better be the face,” Ward said with a laugh. “Von is up to every challenge; that’s why he’s the player that he is, and that’s the caliber of player that we expect him to be from here on out, that’s why he got paid the way he did. He is our franchise player; he is the face of our franchise, and he has been, just looking forward to him doing the same things he’s been doing.”
And with that face back on board, the sky is the limit for the Denver Broncos defense.
“There is no ceiling; we can be as good as we want to be and as good as we work towards being,” Ward concluded. “Last year was a great year, but we can’t rest on that, we have to look towards what we can become, and I think we can become the best defense—not one of—the best defense of all-time. That’s what we’re working towards.”
The team will really start working towards that goal when they report to training camp next Wednesday.
