Miller leaves as Bills come calling with $120 million deal
It had to be the best threemonth career in Rams history.
Long enough for Von Miller to record nine sacks in eight games. Long enough to help the Rams to a Super Bowl victory. Not long enough to put down roots in Los Angeles.
Miller exited Wednesday as dramatically as he had entered last fall, agreeing to sign with the Buffalo Bills for a six-year contract worth $120 million, with $51.4 million of it guaranteed, according to national reports.
All of those numbers are big for an outside linebacker who will turn 33 on March 26.
Too big for the Rams, even as much as they wanted to keep all the stars of their Super Bowl championship run.
Speaking in a video he posted on Instagram, Miller indicated the Rams were in the running to re-sign him until the end.
“It's been crazy man, crazy four hours,” Miller said. “Going back and forth, man. A lot of things that I love in L.A. But I just wanted to let you know I'm coming to Buffalo. Bills Mafia, what's good? Is (uniform number) 40 open?”
The Rams knew Miller wouldn't come cheap after seeing the new contracts for outside linebackers Chandler Jones (three years, $52.5 million to go from the Cardinals to the Raiders), Randy Gregory (five, $70 million, Cowboys to Broncos) and Haason Reddick (three, $45 million, Panthers to Eagles).
As it turned out, Miller will do better than any of them, getting a slight raise in salary from about $19 million on his expiring, sixyear contract with the Broncos, to $20 million a year with the Bills.
The NFL leader in career sacks among active players, Miller will remain third among outside linebackers in total contract value, behind Chargers Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa, and fourth in average salary behind the Steelers' T.J. Watt, Bosa and Mack.
One question now is how much the Rams will have to pay to make defensive tackle Aaron Donald happy with a contract extension.
The three-time NFL defensive player of the year is, if anything, underpaid as the sixth-highest-salaried defensive player at $22.5 million a year on a current deal that runs through 2024. Although it's hard to take this too seriously from a 30-year-old, Donald has indicated he could walk away from football if Miller and Beckham weren't resigned. Maybe he'll see that the Rams couldn't pay both Miller and him.
Wednesday at 1 p.m. marked the start of the period in which teams can officially complete signings and trades.
In another important departure, free-agent Rams cornerback Darious Williams was expected to sign a three-year contract worth $30 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars, national reports said.
The day's two big moves left wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as the last free agent for the Rams to try to re-sign among their Super Bowl starters.
Williams, 28, led the Rams in tackles (eight) in their Super Bowl victory over the Bengals, and led the team in interceptions (four) in the 2020 season before failing to record one in 2021.
His ability to play inside and outside cornerback positions was credited for freeing Jalen Ramsey, the All Pro cornerback on the other side of the field, to take advantage of his own versatility.
Unless the Rams acquire a cornerback, the likely replacements for Williams are Robert Rochell and David Long.
For Williams, a Jacksonville native who played at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the Jaguars contract is a reward for perseverance. He was undrafted in 2018, signed but waived by the Ravens and soon released, and picked up by the Rams. Williams worked his way up the depth chart to become a fixture at cornerback the past two seasons.
Williams and Miller were the fourth and fifth free agents and second and third regular starters to leave this week, after starting right guard Austin Corbett agreed to sign with the Panthers, nose tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day agreed to terms with the Chargers, and outside linebacker Ogbonnia Okoronkwo reached a deal with the Texans.
Since Monday, when teams could start negotiating with other teams' free agents, the Rams have not announced any acquisitions, while they've resigned tackle Joe Noteboom — groomed as retiring left tackle Andrew Whitworth's successor — and center Brian Allen and guard-center Coleman Shelton.
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, the Rams were preparing to say goodbye to a pillar of their championship team.
The Rams were expected, as early as Wednesday, to release Johnny Hekker, the longest-serving member of their roster, one of last four holdovers from the St. Louis days, and as popular with teammates and fans as a punter could be.
Unloading the final two years of Hekker's contract, which paid an average of $3,762,943 for five years, will save the Rams about $2 million against the NFL salary cap.
The retirement of Whitworth the day before had saved the Rams $16 million as they moved to get under the cap by the deadline at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Ramsey reacted to reports that Hekker would be released with an appreciative tweet Wednesday morning: “Dang … one of the best teammates you could have for real too. Much love & respect @JHekker”
Hekker, 32, who played 10 years with the Rams after being signed as an undrafted rookie from Oregon State, might have seen this coming after his punting average slipped for the second season in a row to a careerlow 44.2 yards in the 2021 regular season.
He went into training camp last summer with competition from Corey Bojorquez, and feared he was on the way out after Bojorquez had a sensational preseason finale in Denver while Hekker sat home with COVID-19.
But the Rams traded Bojorquez to the Packers and kept Hekker, the highestpaid NFL punter.
In other moves Wednesday, the Rams announced they had placed $2.54 million original-round tenders on linebacker Travin Howard and kicker Matt Gay.
They would get a seventhround draft pick for Howard, an exclusive-rights free agent, and a fifth-rounder for Gay, a restricted free agent, if another team signed either to an offer sheet.
Those names notably did not include restricted free agent Troy Reeder, the undrafted linebacker who started 25 games over the past three years. Assuming Reeder isn't with the Rams next season, Howard could be the front-runner to start with Ernest Jones at inside linebacker.