Broncos hope Wilson trade gives them edge over LA Rams for Von Miller

Even as the LA Rams have enjoyed success since hiring head coach Sean McVay, other teams have not been as fortunate. For example, the Denver Broncos ended the 2021 NFL season at 7-10. That was a bit of an improvement over 2020 when the team finished at 5-11. The team ended 2019 at 7-9, the first year under head coach and defensive savant Vic Fangio.

Well, the Denver Broncos have a new head coach in former Green Bay Packers head coach Nathaniel Hackett.  The Broncos have hired three LA Rams positional coaches. The first hire was secondary coach Ejiro Evero to assume their defensive coordinator role.

The Broncos continued the focus upon the LA Rams coaching staff, hiring Rams assistant ST coach Dwayne Stuckes as their new Special Teams Coordinator. The LA Rams also lost assistant defensive line coach Marcus Dixon to the Denver Broncos as well, as he becomes their defensive line coach.

Finally, the LA Rams may have provided the Broncos a proven blueprint to creating a Super Bowl contender overnight, as the Broncos have adopted their version of “F*** Them Picks” in trading a boatload of draft picks and three players to the Seattle Seahawks for veteran QB Russell Wilson.

On the surface, the Broncos appear to be simply acquiring a veteran quarterback, a proven NFL winner, in Russell Wilson, in hopes to leapfrog their AFC West rivals in the pursuit of the NFL Championship in 2022. But there is another narrative at work. An undercurrent, a strategy at play that is worthy of the LA Rams GM Les Snead himself.

Unfortunately, the Broncos are the masterminds of this plot.

Rams Free Agency hopes to extend Von Miller takes a hit

Veteran outside linebacker Von Miller is one of the hottest free agents about to test the 2022 NFL Free Agency market. Until now, the LA Rams’ closest competition in what will certainly be a bidding war is the Broncos. While the Broncos have strong connections to Miller, the Rams are the defending Super Bowl Champions and Von Miller likes to win NFL Championships.

Before today, that was next to impossible with the Denver Broncos, a team that appeared to be positioned to rebuild. Now, with the Broncos going All-In, the team can argue that adding Von Miller will make them competitive enough to be in line for a Super Bowl victory in 2022.

And that may be all the reason to persuade a very sentimental and emotionally connected Von Miller to return to the Denver Broncos, a team he repeatedly claimed he never wanted to leave in the first place.

It’s clear that the Broncos are doing everything possible, short of plagiarism, to replicate the LA Rams culture and methods within their organization. Will it be enough to convince Von Miller to sign with them?  Whatever the outcome, the Rams have options at signing a veteran outside linebacker without hurting their compensatory picks status.

If Von Miller signs a hefty contract to play for the Broncos, the Rams comp picks will reflect an awarding of perhaps a third-round draft pick in 2023. And Von Miller, while an ideal fit for the Rams defense, will return to the team where he struggled in 2019, missed all of 2020, and struggled in 2021.Z

The Denver Broncos may be all in on 2022. Not just in trading for Russell Wilson, but in signing FA OLB Von Miller.  But there is a saying: Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.