Von Miller was initially brought to Buffalo in 2022 and was supposed to be the Bills' "closer". It was the one thing the Bills defense was missing during their early postseason runs, but after recording eight sacks through the team's first 11 games, leading the team, Miller tore his ACL and missed the remainder of the 2022 season.
A BUMPY RIDE IN BUFFALO
Miller returned in 2023, playing in 12 games, yet he was clearly not fully recovered and did not record a single sack.
At the start of the 2024 season, Miller agreed to a pay cut and started the year strong with three sacks through the first four games. But on October 1, 2024, Miller was suspended four games for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. After returning to the field in November, he recorded only two more sacks during the regular season and was shut out entirely in the playoffs in terms of sacks.
Miller remains under contract and has said he wants to return to the Bills for the 2025 season. "However long my key card works in this building, I’m gonna keep coming up in here and I’m going to keep coming in and trying to make [a Super Bowl] happen. I want to be here. I plan on being a Buffalo Bill for sure," Miller said on on locker cleanout day.
SALARY CAP IMPLICATIONS
But do the Bills want him back? If the Bills release Miller before June 1st, they save over $8.4 million on their 2025 cap. Spotrac has the Bills projected more than $12 million over the salary cap. For this reason, The Athletic's Joe Bascaglia identified Miller as a potential cap casualty for the Bills.
Bascaglia writes, "The Bills don’t have many obvious cap casualty candidates this offseason, but they must do something about Miller’s contract. The now rotational pass rusher is entering his age-36 season, and carries the second-biggest cap hit on the team at $23.8 million. That’s an untenable situation, given his small role. If the Bills cut him, they would save $8.4 million on the 2025 salary cap. But because he’d still hold a $15.4 million dead cap hit if released, the Bills could negotiate a pay cut with Miller equal to or greater than how much they’d save on the cap to cut him. However, without a pay cut, Miller is likely to be released."
This will be an interesting offseason for the Bills, who are well aware they need to get better up front on defense and greatly improve their ability to pressure opposing passers.
Will Miller be on the Bills roster in 2025, or will they choose to trade Miller while taking on a significant dead salary cap hit?
Part of this equation depends on whether the team believes Miller still has anything left in the tank.
