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COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller said Wednesday that he is “for sure” playing for somebody in the 2026 season and that he has already lobbied Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton for his former team to sign him.
Miller, 37, is an unsigned, unrestricted free agent after a nine-sack season for the Washington Commanders in 2025. Miller spent 11 seasons with the Broncos — he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams just before the trade deadline in 2021 — and had 110.5 of his 138.5 career sacks with the team.
He was MVP of Super Bowl 50, the franchise's third, and most recent, Super Bowl win. Asked during an appearance in suburban Denver on Wednesday for his Von's Vision foundation, whether he had spoken to Payton during a flag football event in April in Los Angeles about a possible return the Broncos, Miller said:
"I lobbied, I do lobby, I lobbied publicly, privately, so I lobbied,'' Miller said. "I think there's no question the type of environment I bring to a locker room, I think there's no question to the type of environment I bring to a team.
"I don't want to pat myself on the back, but at 37 years old, I can still roll out the bed and still rush the quarterback. I'm still a great guy in the locker room, I bring great energy, I make sure everybody is ready to go.''
Miller played 37% of the defensive sacks for the Commanders last season and appeared in 17 games. His nine sacks for the 5-12 team were his highest total since the 9.5 sacks he had for the Broncos and Rams combined in '21.
Miller also said Wednesday that it has been "quiet'' to this point in the offseason on the free agency front, but that he is committed to playing the upcoming season and that he believes he will have suitors.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm playing, I'm playing for sure,'' Miller said. "I had nine sacks last year. … I'm not on my last flame, this year, hopefully I'm not in my last year, but if it is, I want to go out showing guys what I got.''
Miller is tied with former teammate and Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware for 13th on the league's all-time sack list at 138.5 (sacks have been an official statistic since 1982). He has been especially public since the end of the season about his hope to finish his career with the Broncos.
The Broncos largely kept their free agent pursuits in house as they re-signed 17 of 21 players on their roster last season who were scheduled to be unrestricted, restricted or exclusive rights free agents. Reserve safety Tycen Anderson was the only unrestricted free agent the Broncos signed in March from another roster, and their most significant addition from the outside was the trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
Miller, however, remains undeterred and said he knows that at this point in his career, he is not a full-time player. He said he wants to be for Broncos' outside linebackers such as Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper what Ware was for him in Ware’s three seasons with the Broncos.
"I would love to bring back those Super Bowl 50 vibes, love to assist, to be the vice president to [quarterback] Bo Nix, to [wide receiver] Courtland Sutton,” Miller said. “I’ve been the guy and also I’ve been the vice president. … I would love to contribute to us getting back to the glory-land, to holding up that trophy.
"I would love to come back home and do that for the organization that has given me so much.''
Miller said Bills general manager Brandon Beane and Broncos general manager George Paton have also "fanned my flame'' with his aspiration to work in personnel for an NFL team after his playing career is finished.
