Von Miller doubles down, says "no chance" he plays under franchise tag

The Denver Broncos are in a tough place right now, and it doesn't seem like it is getting any easier for them. They have one of the best defensive players in the NFL, but currently they do not have him under contract. The stalemate between Von Miller and the Broncos appears to only be intensifying.

The Broncos placed the Franchise Tag on Von Miller before the deadline passed, which means that if no long term deal is signed before the July 15th deadline Miller would have to play on the tag amount of $14,129,000. That is a ton of money of course, but not even close to the amount that Von Miller is worth in today's market. Miller took to Instagram to inform the world that there was no chance of that happening.

"I love my Teammates, Coaches, and My Fans" but there is "No Chance" I play the 2016 season under the Franchise tag.

A photo posted by Von Miller (@vonmiller) on Jun 16, 2016 at 9:02am PDT

There is still almost a month left to get a deal done between the two sides, but this is a clear message to GM John Elway about the consequences of not finding common ground on a new contract. There was a large offer of 6 years at $114.5M which would be the largest contract signed for a defensive person, however the guaranteed portion up front money of the deal was lacking to Miller's liking.

The Broncos offer guaranteed Miller $38.9M in the first 2 seasons and $58M over the entire course of the deal. However, New York Giants' prize FA signing Olivier Vernon's deal had $40.5M guaranteed as a signing bonus and $52.5M guaranteed overall for a 5 year, $85M deal. Another recent signing is Fletcher Cox of the Eagles whose 6 year, $102.6M calls for $55.549M to be paid within 9 months of his signing the deal.

There is absolutely no question that Von Miller is a better player and bigger star than either Fletcher Cox or Olivier Vernon and Miller wants his deal to better reflect that. Even though $114.5M over 6 years surpasses Cox and Vernon's deal, in the NFL it is all about the guaranteed money to show how committed a team is to their star players.

The Broncos deal does not reflect that commitment in Von Miller's eyes, and rightfully so when his deal is so much less upfront than what those two lesser (but still elite) players got. They have a month left to figure out something better otherwise the Raiders rival will have an even bigger headache than they already are experiencing.