One of the biggest storylines of the NFL offseason was the fact that Denver Broncos OLB and reigning Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller, had yet to reach a long term deal with the team. It seemed as if the Broncos were not going to have their difference maker on the field, since Miller was adamant about not playing under the franchise tag.
Late last week, Miller and the Broncos agreed to a six-year, $114.5 million contract with nearly $70 million guaranteed. This makes him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player. Miller’s agent, Joby Branion the founder of Vanguard Sports Group, spoke with PFT Live to discuss the contract negotiations with the Broncos.
In dealing with Broncos GM John Elway, Branion said “He’s just extremely competitive. I can say that the negotiation approach that he and his team uses is a bit unorthodox and unconventional but you can’t argue with the effectiveness and we don’t know unless we’re in their room what their ultimate goals are. So it’s always after the fact you sort of look and say, ‘Well that didn’t look like that worked out well,’ or ‘Geez, that worked out great.’ Only they really know but, yeah, they’re a little different but, hey, there are a lot of people that use a lot of different approaches to negotiate.”
Miller wanted to stay in Denver, and the team wanted their defensive start back in orange and blue, but Branion was convinced that, without the offer Miller received, he would have sat out all of 2016 and potentially left the team in 2017. There were rumors circulating that permission to seek a trade was requested, but when PFT asked Branion about the legitimacy of said rumors he responded with, “I make it a practice, Mike [Florio], not to go into the specifics of what was said or what wasn’t said during the course of negotiation,” Branion said.
For the full article about the Broncos’ unique negotiation style, click here.