The Denver Broncos finished with a league-leading 63 sacks last season, nine more than the second-place Baltimore Ravens. Nik Bonitto led the way with 13.5 sacks, while Jonathon Cooper and Zach Allen added 10.5 and 8.5 sacks, respectively.
While the Broncos don’t have problems in getting to the quarterback, former NFL tight end Julius Thomas lobbies for the team to bring back Von Miller. Thomas said during his May 13 guesting on FanDuel TV’s ‘Up and Adams,’ “So, Broncos, bring back Von (Miller). … Does Von have a couple of great rushes in him a game? Absolutely! Now, does he need to play 60 snaps? I don’t know. That’s up to them, that’s up to Von. But do I think he can still get to the quarterback? Sure.”
What can we expect out of Von Miller on any team?@heykayadams | @Julius_Thomas pic.twitter.com/fB3GOhA6tH
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) May 13, 2025
Returning to the Broncos would be the appropriate ending to a career worthy of induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He leads the franchise with 110.5 sacks in 142 games over 12 seasons, making him the only Broncos player to have over 100 sacks.
Furthermore, Von Miller was an All-Pro in seven of his first eight seasons with the Broncos. What’s more impressive is that Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of at least 90 from 2011 to 2018. That stretch includes his injury-shortened 2013 season that ended after nine games with an ACL injury.
Von Miller Could Train Younger Broncos Pass Rushers
The former Texas A&M standout had his time as one of the NFL’s most feared edge rushers. However, at 36, the eight-time Pro Bowler is a shell of his former self. Still, Mile High Huddle writer Carl Dumler sees a role in Denver for the two-time Super Bowl champion.
Dumler shared with fellow SBNation reporter Nick Kendell, “Can he actually help this team? His snaps were way down, but they were quality snaps. I think he ended up finishing top ten in percentage of pass rush wins. He can still get after the quarterback. I would love to be able to see him train up a guy like Nik Bonitto. I wouldn’t mind it.”
A January 2025 article by SI.com’s Ralph Ventre states, “Since Week 13, the two-time Super Bowl champion leads the NFL in quarterback pressure rate (25.5), meaning he’s disrupting the passer on more than one-quarter of pass-rush snaps.”
Likewise, the outside linebacker had six sacks in 332 snaps, with two of those sacks coming in the Bills’ final three regular-season games. Miller added 17 tackles and 8 quarterback hits in 13 games last year.
If the Broncos sign him, Miller will be nothing more than a rotational player. However, while he’s at the sidelines, he can impart valuable wisdom to Bonitto, Cooper, Allen, John Franklin-Myers, Dondrea Tillman, and Jonah Elliss.
Miller’s Price Tag Undergoes a Bargain
The Bills released Miller because his production isn’t commensurate with his pay. Buffalo deemed his original $17.1 million base salary for 2025 as steep. Miller could return to Buffalo in 2025, but for a different annual value.
Establishing Miller’s market value will determine the volume of interest he will get from other teams, including the Broncos. Over the Cap states that Denver has $16,282,554 in cap space, due mainly to the dead cap left from Russell Wilson’s release.
Therefore, an eight-figure asking price from Miller’s camp makes a potential Broncos return tricky. However, Miller might have hinted at his potential destination through his response to Adams during a March 2025 interview.
Miller said, “I think 15 years in the game, you just don’t want to go through those growing pains of losing again. I think that will drag you down faster than anything else. And you can never predict what’s about to happen next, especially in the NFL. You never know what’s going to happen next. But, you know, winning football games is a huge priority for me, and everything else comes after that.”
On that thought, a team that broke its playoff drought that stretched from when he was there might be an appealing destination for Miller.
