Von Miller’s contract incentives come into focus as the season winds down

In March, the Buffalo Bills and Von Miller agreed to a renegotiated contract in which Miller’s compensation for 2024 was drastically cut after a down year in 2023 while the veteran was recovering from an injury. To offset the cuts, the Bills added several incentives, with Miller earning most of the money back by hitting certain numbers.

With three games left in the 2024 season, it’s time to check in on all of Miller’s incentives.

Von Miller’s 2024 base salary

As a refresher, the Bills cut Miller’s base salary as part of the renegotiation from $17.145 million to $8.5 million (split between base salary and signing bonus for relationship and salary cap purposes).

Von Miller’s layoff incentives in 2024

The majority of the incentives in Miller’s contract were based on the number of sacks he was able to accumulate. Because he had zero sacks in 2023, all of those incentives were listed as Not Likely To Be Earned on the cap, and while they’re paid in 2024, they won’t count against the cap until 2025.

Here’s a refresher:

• Two sacks: $1 million
• Four sacks: $2.5 million
• Six sacks: $4 million
• Eight sacks: $6 million
• 10.5 sacks: $8.645 million
• 15 sacks: $9.645 million

Those numbers are non-cumulative, so if he reaches six sacks, he’s not making $1 million plus $2.5 million plus $4 million, he’s making $4 million.

Miller currently has four sacks on the season, earning $2.5 million and needs two sacks over the last three games to get another $1.5 million. If he explodes for four sacks over the final three games, he’ll finish with another $2 million for a total of $6 million.

There’s another incentive we didn’t mention, but it includes Miller getting 12 sacks on the season. That seems pretty unlikely at this point. If the Bills win AFC Championship Game and Miller has 12 sacks and plays in 30% or more of the snaps, he gets $1.5 million.

Von Miller’s 2024 active bonuses per game

Miller’s contract pays him $15,000 for every game he is active for. He was suspended for four games this year, costing him $60,000 in those bonuses (and a chance to get the next two sacks he needed to earn another $1.5 million in severance incentives).

Assuming he plays in the final three games of the year, he will earn $195,000 in active bonuses per games in 2024.

Andre Von Miller 2024 bonuses and incentives

Miller earned his $100,000 workout bonus this offseason for participating in enough weight lifting and optional sessions.

What’s next for the Bills and Von Miller’s contract?

None of the money remaining on Miller’s contract is guaranteed, so the Bills can move on to the postseason without paying him another dollar in salary. If they decide to keep him, he has a base salary of $17.145 million in 2025, a $100,000 workout bonus and up to $255,000 in active bonuses per year. game.

Releasing Miller would result in a $15.42 million dead cap charge, accounting for the money they’ve already paid him that hasn’t been applied to the salary cap yet. That would save the Bills about $8.5 million in cap space next season. It seems pretty likely that’s the path the Bills will take.

He will likely end his career on some incentive-laden one-year deals if he wants to continue playing.

You can see Miller’s full contract breakdown in our March article form.