Getty Von Miller #40 of the Buffalo Bills looks on during Bills mini camp on June 15, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York.
The biggest move the Buffalo Bills made this offseason was obtaining superstar outside linebacker Von Miller, and signing the eight-time Pro Bowler to a monster six-year, $120 million deal.
Miller’s signing came as a huge surprise as there were zero previous reports linking him to Buffalo, and because Bills general manager Brandon Beane said during his postseason press conference in January that the team wouldn’t be “big spenders” in free agency, as they were hard up against the salary cap.
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Giving a 33-year-old edge rusher a six-year contract allows the franchise to spread out his salary and save the team cap space. Because Miller will be 38 when his contract expires in 2027, it was widely assumed that he’d finish his career in Buffalo, but that he’d likely retire before his deal was up.
However, in an interview with The Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan, Miller said he plans to play throughout the whole contract.
“This is a six-year deal, so I’m looking forward to playing the whole thing,” Miller said. “I’m trying to play the whole thing out. Tom Brady’s done it; Bruce Smith has done it. All the guys that I look up to when it comes to longevity in careers.
“So I just take it one day at a time, and I’m just gonna take whatever God gives me. My intention is to play the whole thing out. I’m a real sicko when you get to know me. My mindset is different.”
Miller Says He Doesn’t Feel 33 or Look 33
Edge Rushers with the highest run defense grades since 2019
🥇 Khalil Mack: 91.2
🥈 Von Miller: 91.0
🥉 Demarcus Lawrence: 90.8
Despite his age, Miller continues to perform at an elite level. Last year, the two-time Super Bowl champion recorded 9.5 sacks during the regular season, and in four playoff games with the Los Angeles Rams, notched another four sacks.
The former No. 2 overall pick from the 2011 NFL Draft has a total of 115.5 sacks during his career thus far, and has no plans on slowing down. Miller sticks to a diligent training routine in order to remain a highly productive edge rusher.
“I sit and talk to young guys, they ask me, ‘How do you do it?'” Miller said. “I’m like, ‘Bro, I honestly do everything that you possibly can do to keep your body fresh. Whenever I leave here, the facility, the rest of my day is getting ready for the next day, whether there’s massages, nutrition, whether that’s getting acupuncture, cold tub, cryo. It’s 2022, and we got so many different things that can help us recover. I’m doing them all.”
Miller also conveyed the importance of the mental aspect of the game, noting how he doesn’t look 33, nor does he feel like he’s that old:
I think mentally, once you start feeling old, it’s just done. I’ve been in the league a long time and when guys start complaining about, of course you’re gonna have injuries and stuff, but when guys start complaining about, man it’s cold out here. Or we got practice again today. Or just little things that I just try to stay out of. I try to keep my mind positive.
When I’m running out here with the guys, I make it a point to show to my teammates and earn their trust that hey, I’m 33 years old but I can run with you. I can run with anybody and I’m healthy and I take care of my body.
Miller Wants to Win a Third Super Bowl
Von Miller wants to make #BillsMafia proud:
“I wasn’t content where I was at. I still wanted more… I just wanted to be the last drop to overflow these guys.”
Miller addressed the media ahead of the first day of the Bills’ mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, June 14, and shed light on what ultimately led him to leave the Rams. “We got all these AFC Championship [banners] out here, and not one Super Bowl,” Miller said of the training facility in Buffalo. “It’s an expectation from this franchise, this fan base, and that’s why I came here.”
“I could’ve stayed in LA, and just rode off into the sunset, rushing with Aaron Donald… But I wasn’t content. I wasn’t content where I was at.”
“I still wanted more,” the future Hall-of-Famer continued, noting how he selfishly wants to win three Super Bowl championships with three different teams, a feat that’s never been done in NFL history. “This organization wants a Super Bowl, so it’s win/win for both.”
Miller is also confident that he and the Bills can win Super Bowl LVII. “This is a special team. We’re right on the edge and I just wanna be the last drop to overflow these guys, man. Bills Mafia has been waiting for it, Buffalo’s been waiting for it and it’ll be crazy if we can go get it done.”
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