ESPN lists Bills’ sure-fire Hall of Fame DE as ‘surprise’ 2025 cut candidate

To say that Von Miller’s tenure in Orchard Park has not gone as expected to this point would be an understatement.

Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round, the Buffalo Bills signed the vaunted veteran linebacker to a mega six-year deal in the summer of 2022 because they thought a premier passer would be a difference-maker. He said adding the NFL’s all-time active sacks leader to their already talented roster would allow them to overcome that adversity and eventually hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Things started off smoothly, with Miller tallying eight sacks in his first nine games with the club; He suffered an ACL tear during Buffalo’s 2022 Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions and has since set off a chain reaction of unfortunate events both within and outside of his control during his time on One Bills Drive.

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Miller returned in Week 5 of the 2023 season but looked like a shell of his former self, recording just 17 total pressures and zero sacks for the season. He would later state that He shouldn’t even be playing in 2023Using the criticism directed at him as motivation as he enters 2024; The 35-year-old is off to a hot start, tallying three sacks in four games before being suspended for four matches likely stemming from allegations of domestic attacks in late 2023.

He has since returned to the lineup and played well overall, but has only played in 30 of the 44 regular season games since signing for 2022, starting just 11 of them. Miller is still a talented player who’s useful in a niche role, but he’s not the consistently game-breaking pass rusher Buffalo gave him a six-year, $120 million contract two and a half years ago.

Both parties know this, so Miller agreed to a significantly reduced, incentive-laden contract in the summer of 2024. The reworked deal gave Buffalo the opportunity to potentially opt out of the deal early in the 2025 season, and an ESPN insider said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the team eventually exercise that option; Reporter Dan Graziano recently listed Miller as a surprise cut candidate for next springHe underlined that the experienced player may not play at all next year.

“Miller is a two-time Super Bowl champion and a definite Hall of Famer who has nothing left to prove as an NFL player,” Graziano wrote. “It’s gotten to the point where it’s fair to wonder how much longer he’ll want to play. Of course, if the Bills win the Super Bowl and give Miller his third ring with three different teams, it will shape up as a storybook ending for the No. 2 pick of the 2011 draft. But if that doesn’t happen, there’s a good chance he and the Bills will part ways in the offseason. He is scheduled to earn $17.5 million in salary and bonuses in 2025, but none of that money is guaranteed and there is no money in his deal for 2026 or 2027. This will cost the Bills just under $15.5 million in dead money in 2025. I will be leaving Miller in the spring.”

His four-game suspension skews the numbers a bit, but Miller has only played in 22% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps this season; Even if it were possible, he did not play more than 30 (or 50%) of the team’s snaps in a given game. That’s good for a soon-to-be 36-year-old, but Miller is expected to have a base salary of $17 million and a cap hit of $24 million next year; With players like Rasul Douglas, Greg Rousseau, Christian Benford, and even Khalil Shakir needing new deals in the near or near future, allocating nearly 10% of the cap to an aging, situational passer may not be the best use of assets.

Only time will tell if the Bills part ways with Miller next spring, but as Graziano noted, the team has the opportunity to win the Super Bowl to make whatever decision is made easier to stomach.

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