While 90 percent of the players that end up moving during an NFL offseason now do so within a few days of the start of the new league year in mid-March, veteran edge Von Miller was not one of them. He took his time to weigh his options and figure out where his ideal destination would be after three injury-plagued years in Buffalo.
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Miller decided that his best chance at winning a third Super Bowl ring was with the Washington Commanders. He signed on for one year and $6.1 million, though that could rise to $10.5 million through various incentives.
Despite missing 15 games over the last three years and starting none over the last two, the 36-year-old Miller says that he is feeling better than he ever has two weeks into training camp. He’s not in the best shape of his life—he made sure to stress that. But he feels better than he ever has. And apparently, that has a lot to do with head coach Dan Quinn, who Miller calls “DQ”.
“I wouldn’t say the best shape, but I’m in pretty good shape. And honestly, out of my 15 years playing in the NFL, this is probably the best I’ve felt two weeks into training camp. DQ does a great job. There’s no pride or no ego behind it. He’s not tryna get the guys calloused, he’s not tryna make the guys hard. He just wants the guys to be healthy, be sharp on our playbook and sharp on our assignments.”
Quinn came on as the head coach of the Commanders last year. He led the charge as the team flipped the script from 4-13 in 2023 to 12-5 and the franchise’s first Conference Championship Game in over 30 years in 2024. Quinn’s ability to mesh the young elements of his roster with veterans like Miller has been key. And Miller, who is likely to be a depth piece on a stacked Washington defensive front, is happy to help any way he can.
“My job is to make sure we have the best team that we possibly can have. If that’s working with the young pass rushers, cool. If that’s talking to the third-string safety, cool. If that’s giving input on special teams, cool. If it’s talking to coach about stuff that I did at other places, cool. All I want to do is win. And I’ll do whatever it takes to win.”
Miller, who was drafted in 2011, also talked about how he wanted to be different than the veterans he had as a youngster. According to him, there was a lot of “back in my day” type of rhetoric back then. He didn’t want to hear that. He says that now that he’s the old head, he’s trying to do a better job of “listening”.
Anytime you get a respected and accomplished two-time Super Bowl champion to buy into your system this heavily this quickly, you’re doing something right.
