“He put them over the top” - NFL insider worries if loss of Von Miller will prevent Rams from repeating as Super Bowl champions
The Los Angeles Rams still rule the NFL after winning Super Bowl LVI but will not be the same team in Week 1 of 2022. Since the team walked off the field at SoFi Stadium as winners, several substantial changes have been made. Robert Woods and Odell Beckham Jr. are gone, as is Von Miller.
One NFL insider looked at the loss of the linebacker as potentially the move that prevents the Rams from duplicating 2021's final victory in 2022. Speaking on Good Morning Football, NFL insider Peter Schrager had this to say:
“The one thing I would say. They were very surprised that Aaron Donald wasn't able to, with the rest of them, recruit [the linebacker] to come back. And [he] put them over the top. I'm very interested to see how they're going to replace that element where Von Miller brought a championship pedigree to that team."
"Von Miller came in here & met our whole staff.. ultimately it was a very hard decision for him but I know he's excited to help us get over the top" ~Brandon Beane
#PMSLive https://t.co/OtsK93xTE3
Schrager also outlined that the leadership the pass rusher brought to the team cannot be replaced by anyone else on the roster:
"And brought leadership that they did not have necessarily, who had already been there done that. Von leaves to Buffalo and it's like, hey, we'll bring an Allen Robinson, we’ll be right, good to go. But gosh, [the pass rusher] was important there."
Brandon Beane says @PatMcAfeeShow that he talks with Josh Allen regularly throughout off-season to get feedback on potential moves. As much as 3x a day.
Adds Allen, Stefon Diggs, and even Bruce Smith were those recruiting Von Miller to #Bills
Schrager's final point was that Miller's exit may have thrown a wrench into the team's offseason plans:
"And I still think there's a little bit of surprise that Von didn't want to run this back with them. And Von chose to go to Western New York and the money over being in LA and trying to be great and do two in a row.”
Where is Von Miller now?
At the start of 2021, the franchise linebacker was a member of the Denver Broncos, the same team he had played for during the last decade. By the beginning of 2022, he will have been a member of three teams or more than ten percent of the league. After being traded from Denver, Miller landed in Los Angeles with a view to helping them land the Super Bowl title.
The team went on to win the Super Bowl. The linebacker then said he was interested in Denver and running it back in Los Angeles. However, he went in a surprisingly different direction and joined Josh Allen in Buffalo.
According to Spotrac, after helping the Broncos win Super Bowl 50, the linebacker signed a six-year, $114 million deal in his mid-20s. After helping the Rams win Super Bowl LVI, the 33-year old linebacker signed a six-year, $120 million contract with the Buffalo Bills, making a mockery of the idea of a salary drop for non-quarterbacks after 30.