ESPN lists Bills' surefire Hall of Fame DE as 'surprise' 2025 cut candidate

ESPN believes that the Buffalo Bills could part ways with legendary pass-rusher Von Miller next offseason.

Kyle Silagyi | 4 Hours Ago

Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Buffalo Bills | News, Scores, Schedules & Standings

To say that Von Miller’s stint in Orchard Park hasn’t gone as anticipated to this point would be an understatement.

The Buffalo Bills, fresh off a heartbreaking AFC Divisional Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in which they felt a premier pass-rusher would have made the difference, signed the vaunted veteran defender to a six-year mega deal in the 2022 offseason, believing that adding the NFL’s active all-time sack leader to their already talented roster would allow them to get over the hump and finally hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Everything started swimmingly, with Miller tallying eight sacks through his first nine games with the club; he suffered an ACL tear in Buffalo’s Thanksgiving Day clash with the Detroit Lions in 2022, setting off a chain reaction of unfortunate occurrences both in and out of his control that has loomed over his time at One Bills Drive since.

Miller returned in Week 5 of the 2023 season but looked like a shell of his former self, tallying just 17 total pressures and zero sacks throughout the campaign. He would later state that he shouldn’t have even played in 2023, using the criticism leveled at him as motivation entering 2024; the 35-year-old got off to a hot start, tallying three sacks through four games before receiving a four-game suspension likely stemming from late 2023 domestic assault allegations.

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

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Both sides know this, hence why Miller agreed to a substantially reduced and incentive-laden contract in the 2024 offseason. The reworked deal notably provided Buffalo with an opportunity to potentially get out of the arrangement as early as the 2025 offseason, and one ESPN insider wouldn’t be surprised to see the team ultimately exercise this option; reporter Dan Graziano recently listed Miller as a surprise cut candidate for next spring, noting that the veteran may not even play at all next year.

“Miller is a two-time Super Bowl champion and surefire Hall of Famer who doesn't have anything left to prove as an NFL player,” Graziano wrote. “He has reached the point where it's fair to wonder how much longer he will even want to play. Certainly, if the Bills can win the Super Bowl, giving Miller his third ring with three different teams, it sets up as a storybook ending for the No. 2 pick of the 2011 draft. But if that doesn't happen, there's a pretty good chance he and the Bills part ways in the offseason. He's scheduled to earn $17.5 million in salary and bonuses in 2025, but none of that money is guaranteed, nor is any of the money on his deal for 2026 or 2027. It would cost the Bills just under $15.5 million in dead money on their 2025 cap to move on from Miller in the spring.”

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

His four-game suspension skews the numbers a bit, but Miller has played on just 22% of Buffalo’s defensive snaps this season; even when available, he’s never played on more than 30 (or 50%) of the team’s snaps in a given game. This is fine for a soon-to-be 36-year-old in a vacuum, but Miller is set to have a $17 million base salary and $24 million cap number next year; with players like Rasul Douglas, Greg Rousseau, Christian Benford, and even Khalil Shakir needing new deals in the immediate or near future, allotting nearly 10% of the cap to an aging situational pass-rusher may not be the best utilization of assets.

Only time will tell whether the Bills ultimately retain or part ways with Miller next spring, but the team, as Graziano notes, has the opportunity to make whatever the decision is a bit easier to stomach by winning the Super Bowl.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI —