DENVER
Von Miller declared just 12 hours after winning the Super Bowl MVP award that his contract talks this offseason were “going to be a peaceful thing” that he wouldn’t fret over.
Nothing changed his mind.
The star linebacker said during an appearance at his charity event Wednesday night at Sports Authority Field he’s optimistic a long-term contract with the Denver Broncos will come together “any day” even though there “hasn’t been much movement.”
It’s the eternal optimist in him.
“That’s just the mind-set I have,” Miller said before handing out hundreds of eyeglasses to underprivileged youth as part of his “Von’s Vision” foundation.
“I’m optimistic about it. I don’t have any hard feelings about it. I’m training, grinding, staying in shape and whenever the time comes, I’ll be ready to go,” Miller added.
Miller hasn’t signed his $14.129 million tag while his agent, Joby Branion, seeks a contract that would make his client the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player.
That distinction now belongs to Miami defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, whose six-year, $114.375 million contract includes nearly $60 million in guaranteed money and is worth $19.062 million annually.
General manager John Elway recently said there’s only been one offer and one counter-offer and that contract talks would resume after the upcoming draft. He also said he hopes it doesn’t go down to the July 15 deadline as it did with receiver Demaryius Thomas last summer.
“I would hope not but we’ll see,” Elway said at his pre-draft news conference last week. “I think that it’s not nearly as bad as people have it portrayed at being out there. I know what I think of Von Miller and I know what this organization thinks of Von Miller. He is very important to us, and we’re going to work our tails off to try and get something done with him.”
Miller struck a similar tone in his comments, saying he expects to be signing a deal soon and returning to his teammates at Broncos headquarters.
“Yeah, it’s still all positive. There’s really not anything negative about any of this stuff,” Miller said. “Of course I want to be there with my guys but I feel like me and my teammates, we’ve put ourselves in great situations for this offseason. And just taking it one day at a time. There are not really any negative feelings about it.”
Von’s Vision welcomed nearly 300 Denver-area children ages 5 to 18 for free eyeglasses.
“I’m here to make glasses cool again,” said Miller, who’s worn glasses since second grade and owns several hundred pair.
