For a guy who will pocket about $50 million over the next three years, Von Miller’s been pretty conflicted lately.
The Buffalo Bills’ new superstar edge rusher admitted Thursday in his first news conference with the Western New York media that it wasn’t an easy decision to leave Los Angeles – where he just won a Super Bowl with the Rams – for a new NFL home.
In fact, Miller made it sound downright brutal.
“It really felt like I broke up with my girlfriend and she never did anything to me,” he said. “She was good to me. She was good to me, and I had to break up with her to choose another girlfriend. I hate that part. I hate that part of the league.”
To be sure, Miller had it good in Los Angeles. He loved being a member of the Rams. He got to line up next to Aaron Donald, the best defensive player in the NFL. He got to play for Sean McVay, one of the league’s premier head coaches. Oh, and did we mention, it’s Los Angeles?
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Would he really leave all of that … for Buffalo?
“It was a hard decision for me to make. You know I want to put emphasis on that – leaving L.A. for Buffalo … it’s tough,” Miller said with a chuckle. “It’s tough. You know, I’m going to be completely honest with you guys.”
It begs the question: Why did he do it?
Sure, that aforementioned $50 million in the first three years of a six-year contract that has a total possible value of $120 million plays a big part. Miller, though, was already wealthy beyond his wildest imagination. He’s the first defensive player to sign two contracts with total maximum values of at least $100 million each.
It had to be about more than just money.
“It had to be something special,” Miller said. “It had to be the Buffalo Bills. What they’ve created here – it had to be the Bills Mafia. This environment that they’ve created here, it drawed me away from (Los Angeles). It’s not going to be the weather. The weather is going to be the weather, but what they’re doing inside this facility, what they’re doing in this community, what they’re doing on the football field and off the football field, man, I had to be a part of that.”
That, from a two-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Famer, speaks volumes about the culture the Bills have created under General Manager Brandon Beane, head coach Sean McDermott and quarterback Josh Allen.
“The only way you can walk away from that is to walk into something special,” Miller said, “and what they’re doing here is extremely special. They’re going to win a Super Bowl with or without me. They’ve built an amazing team.”
The Bills are thrilled that it will be with Miller. The soon-to-be 33-year-old said he was rejuvenated by his midseason trade last season from the Broncos to the Rams. He responded with four sacks during the Rams’ four-game postseason run to the championship, including two in the Super Bowl victory over the Bengals.
The Bills are banking on Miller providing the type of game-changing pressure off the edge that they felt was lacking too often last season.
“The last few games of the season every year, that, to me, is a barometer of where you're at and where you need to go,” McDermott said. “We just felt like we needed this piece – it was one of the pieces that we needed, not the only piece – but this was an opportunity for us to get our hands on one in Von and it's not every year you have a chance to get a player like this – at that position in particular. So, we were fortunate that the time was right for us and for him.”
Miller is the type of star that for far too long the Bills had no prayer of attracting. That is no longer the case. Allen is perhaps the best player in the entire league. Stefon Diggs is one of the game’s top wide receivers and has known Miller for years.
“That’s my guy. I talked to him about it,” Miller said. “To be honest, I talked to him about this locker room since he got here. I asked him about it. He said he loved it. He said he loved everything about Buffalo. For Stefon Diggs, Mr. International, for him to give me those kudos, it really made me feel at peace with coming here and being a part of this.”
Miller, though, wasn’t truly at peace until he actually arrived in Buffalo and put pen to paper.
“Right when I signed on the contract, I felt good,” he said. “The smile came back. The happiness came back, Von came back.”
A cross-country flight had given him time to think – and rethink – whether he was doing the right thing.
“This was definitely a stressful process,” he said. “I wasn't expecting it to be like that. I was expecting, you win the Super Bowl, you got your offers out here, where do you want to go? Pick. Go back to the Rams. But it was tough man, it came down to the very end and Coach McVay, they did everything they possibly could and it's unfortunate that I'm not a Los Angeles Ram, but I’m a Buffalo Bill, man. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to go chase multiple Super Bowls with these guys and it's an honor and a privilege to be here. Bills Mafia, what's up baby?”
