He was supposed to take his 60 career sacks in 72 games and Super Bowl 50 MVP performance to the free market, where he would surely get one of the most lucrative contracts in the NFL.
Instead, he’s reportedly considering sitting out of the 2016 season.
And when you look at the reason why Miller might take a year off, it’s hard to blame him for thinking about it.
That’s because Miller isn’t going to hit the open market this year, and unless he does something drastic he probably won’t hit the market after next season, either.
In March, the Broncos slapped Miller with a franchise tag — an antiquated quirk of the NFL’s CBA that’s long past its logical expiration point — and despite the fact that he’s one of the top players in the NFL, there’s nothing Miller can do about it.
The franchise tag was introduced in 1993 as a band-aid to help teams as true free agency came to the league. Teams can use it on one player annually, and it keeps a star from free agency by paying him the average of the top five salaries at his position or 120 percent of his previous season’s contract, whichever is more.
There’s no way for a player to negotiate for a higher salary or decline the tag — he’s stuck with it, and it gives the team a tremendous, almost unfair, negotiating advantage when discussing long-term deals.
By slapping the franchise tag on Miller, the Broncos are set to pay him $14.1 million in 2016 — well below his market value, which is closer to $20 million a year.
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