Report: Broncos Pick up $6M Option on Von Miller's 2020 Contract

Von Miller didn't have a great first year in Vic Fangio's defense. The Denver Broncos' superstar rush linebacker posted eight sacks, which was a career-low for Miller in any season in which he appeared in at least 10 games.

Miller missed one start last year due to a knee injury but otherwise, was healthy and available for his team, which was extremely important as the Broncos reckoned with the loss of Bradley Chubb to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 4.

Miller has received a fair amount of criticism and with him turning 31 years old later this month, some pundits have speculated that perhaps he's finally hit the 'down' side of his future Hall-of-Fame career. I wouldn't go that far, although I would acknowledge that it's fair to criticize Miller on the heels of a relatively lackluster 2019 (based on Von's standards).

We all know how special Miller is. He impacts each and every snap, whether it be by knifing through to make a tackle, bending around and blowing by a tackle to sack or pressure the QB, or even by the attention he draws away from other Broncos front-seven players.

Miller has the capacity to wreck each and every snap that he's on the field. The issue last year was, those game-changing plays that he's built a career on were few and far between. But there are potentially a few explanations for why Miller's production dipped in 2019.

It would seem that the Broncos are more inclined to view 2019 as an outlier as Mike Klis of 9NEWS reported on Friday afternoon that the team has opted to pick up the $6 million option on Miller's 2020 contract.

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The team expects Miller to return to form in 2020 and with Chubb returning and a full year in Fangio's scheme under his belt, it's a good bet that he will. Not only did Miller have to learn an entirely new and vastly different scheme than the one he'd thrived under since 2015, but for the first time in his career, he lacked the impact rusher opposite of him.

Whether it was Elvis Dumervil, DeMarcus Ware, or Chubb, Miller has always had that 10-sack complement opposite him. When Chubb was lost for the season in Week 4, the Broncos scrambled to fill the void, trying undrafted rookie Malik Reed and fifth-round rookie Justin Hollins, before finding Jeremiah Attaochu who made a sizeable impact down the stretch.

Also, we don't know how much Miller's knee issue was at fault for his less-than-stellar production last year. It's possible there's a lot more to that story than has been reported up to this point.

The Broncos believe in Von, and even with Drew Lock's rise, Miller remains the face of the franchise. Miller would be the first to acknowledge that he could have been better last year.

Y’all are losers.. https://t.co/6ksKfW3Pih
— Bradley Chubb (@astronaut) March 11, 2020

At a certain point, all of the criticism he's faced might coalesce to a point where it fuels a monster turnaround in 2020. I'm nowhere near ready to send Miller off to the retirement home, although, undoubtedly, for a defensive player making what he is, the Broncos need more from him.

I'm not a betting man, but if I were to place a wager on the issue, I'd lose no sleep over gambling on Miller having a bounce-back 2020 campaign. After all, he is the Broncos' all-time leader in sacks and it's entirely plausible that he's been worn down by the exhaustion of all the losing this club has done since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy four years ago.

But the times, they are a-changin'. With Lock in the fold, the Broncos have a renewed energy and swagger and I expect that to have a galvanizing effect on the eight-time Pro Bowler.

Hopefully, our readers didn't miss that Klis also reported that Denver has officially picked up the team options on K Brandon McManus and LB Todd Davis, virtually locking each veteran in for 2020, barring something unforeseen in the future.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.