Von’s gone. It’s time to move on.
Hey, if Von Miller could play tight end, I’d open the checkbook and roll out the orange carpet. If you think Davis Webb is hot to trot now, just wait ’til you see what our guy cooks up from “23” personnel.
Alas, the Vonster plays outside linebacker. And at age 37, he’s now a situational outside linebacker, at that. The Broncos already have plenty.
“Obviously, I wouldn’t start,” Miller, who’s reportedly agreed to a 1-year deal with his hometown Dallas Cowboys for 2026, told The Post’s Parker Gabriel back in May. “Obviously, I wouldn’t play special teams.”
Points for saying the quiet part out loud, at least. Jonah Elliss, meanwhile, played 254 special-teams snaps last fall, and 257 in 2024. Also, Elliss just turned 23. And he’s got a cap number of only $1.6 million for ’26. So he’s making about $213,000 per career sack (7.5) since 2024.
Per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Miller has played all of three special-teams snaps the last two seasons. Von just inked a 1-year deal with his hometown Dallas Cowboys worth up to $7.5 million, allegedly. He’ll be raking in roughly $500,000 per career sack recorded (15) over the last two years.
Which means Elliss isn’t just younger than Von. He’s cheaper. And, potentially, better — better this fall, at least. Better for this locker room, too.
The Broncos have two of him now. Four, if you include Dondrea Tillman and Drew Sanders.
After raising Cain in the Broncos’ 27-7 rout of Atlanta last Friday night, Elliss tied for second among all NFL defenders in total sacks/hits/hurries (five) from Week 1 of the preseason. And one of those pressures set up a diving Riley Moss interception in the first half.
“I’m always willing to do whatever the team needs me to do,” Elliss told us after practice last week. “Whether thatap playing inside (linebacker) or playing on special teams. Whatever I can do to help us get to a championship, I’m willing to do.”
Elliss against the Falcons was credited with two tackles and two pass break-ups. Pro Football Focus graded him out with team-highs in overall score (91.3 out of 100) and in pass-rushing score (90.7). PFF’s No. 2 Broncos defender in Georgia? Fellow edge-rusher Que Robinson was second in the queue, with an 87.2 overall score and an 85.3 pass-rushing grade after four tackles and a QB hit. And the Broncos’ only official sack of the evening came from another outside ‘backer, Sanders — a guy who was, ironically enough, drafted with a pick acquired via the trade of the Vonster to the Rams back in 2021.
“Oh man, he’s been great,” Elliss said last week when asked about Robinson. “Not only has he excelled on the field, but he’s out there, and it feels like he’s a vet. I come off the field, maybe had a bad rush, or maybe had a bad rush in the wrong (situation), and he’s telling me what he saw. And he’s really just trying to elevate the room as a whole. Que’s been great, both on and off the field, helping everyone grow in the room and just making a competitive room.”
That room could get a bit thinner, though. And soon. The NFL opened the week by doling out at least four suspensions. Broncos edge rusher Jonathon Cooper wasn’t on the list, but Falcons outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. was. And you might want to put a mental pin in the latter’s case for future reference.
This past March, the Atlanta defender was charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor by the Miami-Dade (Florida) State Attorney following an incident that involved WNBA forward Rickea Jackson. Pearce reportedly used his car to follow and then collide with a vehicle driven by Jackson. Arrest reports indicate Pearce fled on foot from local police before being arrested. He was eventually charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon; fleeing and eluding police; resisting an officer with violence to his or her person; and a misdemeanor charge of aggravated stalking.
Closer to home, Cooper was arrested twice in June, during the OTA/mini-camp portion of the Broncos’ spring calendar, after incidents that allegedly involved his then-girlfriend. Following the second, he was charged with harassment, violating a protection order, and felony second-degree assault by strangulation.
. But Pearce landed an eight-game suspension Monday for violating the league’s code of conduct policy. Set your bars accordingly.
The tea leaves still say a ban for Cooper is coming, and knowing the love for Broncos coach Sean Payton up at NFL HQ, it’ll probably come at the worst possible time.
In other words? Hope for the best, brace for the rest. The Broncos need to be prepared for the league’s hammer to fall, to be stripped of Cooper for weeks at a time. Friday night gave more credence to the idea that they’re ready. And able. Even without Miller’s help.
“I mean, it means a lot that the coaches see that in me,” Elliss said last week. “Now I’ve got to prove it.”
So far, so good. In the meantime, be happy for Miller. , in front of family and friends, a fitting farewell for an orange-and-blue hero who’ll be wearing a gold jacket.
You could crash an AI data center with what’s been written about Miller and how he helped the Broncos win a third Super Bowl title. A lot less has been written, though, about how Miller’s departure five years ago is helping to secure a fourth.
The Vonster was shipped to the Rams for two picks in the ’22 draft — one in the second, one in the third. The second-rounder became Nik Bonitto out of Oklahoma — Von’s virtual replacement.
The third-rounder was eventually swapped for a fifth-round pick in ’22 that became Luke Wattenberg out of Washington, and another third-rounder in ’23, which became Sanders.
Miller turned into two linebackers, a starting center, 38 sacks and 45 TFLs since 2022 on 2,549 defensive snaps. And Sanders has accounted for only 276 of those due to injuries.
Over the previous four seasons, the Vonster put up 23 sacks and 23 TFLs on 1,407 snaps. Bonitto has been good for a sack every 53.97 snaps since 2023; Von’s rate over that same stretch is one every 63.8 snaps.
“All the cut-up tape, his production, his ball disruption, it just, for me, felt like, ‘Man, we’re taking a position thatap harder to find, and moving him to a position that we think might be a little bit easier to replace,'” Payton said of Elliss recently. “Thatap not to say that we can’t package a few things. But I think we felt like he’s really ascending as an edge player. And we didn’t want to disrupt that.”
Nor should you. Not even for one last ride. Nostalgia can cover up a lot of cracks, but not a production drop of 15.4% from a legend in the winter of his career, a fading star with a star on the side of his helmet.
