NFL fans, especially fans of the Super Bowl champs, plus media members can likely count this as the NFL version of “I didn’t have this on my bingo card:” Von Miller leaving the Los Angeles Rams for the Buffalo Bills.
In a stunning and aggressive free agent tactic made the Bills, the franchise snatched Miller away from the Super Bowl champs for a blockbuster six-year, $120 million deal on Wednesday, March 16 with the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport the first to report the shocker.
Von Miller to the #Bills.
Miller was originally attached as possibilities for the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and his old NFL home the Denver Broncos as the Rams were making the attempt to keep Miller on board. But as noted by Rapoport, the Bills became the most assertive and aggressive toward reaching Miller.
Rapoport adds that Miller is anticipated to get an average of $17.5 million per year.
From Free Agency Frenzy: Splash! The #Bills land Von Miller.
Spotrac gave this in-depth breakdown in their post.
On his previous 6 year contract, Von Miller got $70M guaranteed, $42M at signing.
His 6 year contract with the #Bills contains $52M guaranteed, $32M fully guaranteed at signing.
It appears to be a 3 years, $53M deal for practical purposes.
And now, the NFL Twitter world — let alone the NFL world — is abuzz over the signing.
Reactions Include Former GM & Miller Himself
Heavy spoke with former NFL general manager with the New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins Randy Mueller about the reaction on Miller leaving the Rams for the Bills. Mueller believes that the Josh Allen effect was in play.
“Josh Allen has everyone’s attention,” Mueller said. “Longer term/more guarantees than Rams were willing to go, I’d guess. Bills were way more aggressive, probably had to be to get him to Buffalo, than anything else he had going.”
There’s more. The Bills Twitter account sent out exclamation points in their announcement.
𝐕𝐎𝐍‼️
We’ve agreed to terms with DE @VonMiller on a six-year contract. #BillsMafia
While most fans online didn’t believe it at first that Miller was on the move to the Bills, Miller himself confirmed he is trekking to Buffalo through this social media touch: Using renown Hip-Hop artist Benny the Butcher as his theme for this tweet:
The rapper is from Buffalo, hence Miller’s meaning behind the post.
Other Reactions Include Former Teammates
Miller had some now-former teammates giving their reaction to the news.
Leonard Floyd, who starred opposite of Miller on the edge as an outside linebacker, shared this one emoji tweet.
Meanwhile, Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Cooper Kupp took to the social media site to give his thanks to the man who helped get him his first Vince Lombardi Trophy:
Good luck, @VonMiller.
Appreciate everything you brought to the team and LA!
Field Yates of ESPN mentioned how the AFC has seen an influx of past NFC talent crossing over, leading Yates to believe that the conference will be “incredible this year.”
The infusion of elite talent from the NFC to the AFC already this offseason includes:
Russell Wilson
Khalil Mack
Von Miller
Chandler Jones
Amari Cooper
The AFC is going to be incredible this year.
But again, there were those who cover the NFL who were left in shock by the move. One was Jane Slater of the NFL Network. The Cowboys insider first mentioned online how the Cowboys were considered out of the running to bring Miller back to his home state of Texas. But even she didn’t see the Bills sprouting up.
Meanwhile, Rams insider Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic launched a thread of tweets reacting to the news. Among the notable nuggets from Rodrigue: Money had to be right for Miller to be with the Rams long term.
Miller also took to his Instagram page to post a story on him leaving the Rams for the Bills, saying that he loves L.A. but asking the question “Bills Mafia, what’s good?!”
On Instsgram, Von Miller announces he’s “coming to Buffalo” after “a lot of back and forth.” “I love LA” he adds – source said they reiterated commitment to him throughout negotiation process. Big decision for the first-time free agent – hearing Bills made a really strong push.
Now, Miller will be heading to one of the best defenses from this past season.
.@VonMiller is joining a @BuffaloBills defense that did this in 2021:
PPG allowed: 17 (1st in NFL)
Total YPG: 272.8 (1st in NFL)
Pass YPG: 163.0 (1st in NFL)
3rd Down %: 30.8 (1st in NFL)
Opp Passer Rating: 65.3 (1st in NFL)
Lastly: The Bills are scheduled to travel to SoFi Stadium in the 2022 season, this time with Miller on the side of Allen, Stefon Diggs and company.
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NFL Reactions Pour in After Rams Stunningly Losing Von Miller to AFC Contender