In March, the Buffalo Bills and Von Miller agreed to a renegotiated contract that included a drastic reduction in Miller’s compensation for 2024 after a poor 2023 in which the veteran was recovering from an injury. To offset the cuts, the bills added several incentives in which Miller could recoup most of the money by hitting certain numbers.

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

Von Miller’s base salary for 2024

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

Von Miller’s layoff incentives for 2024

Most of the incentives in Miller’s contract were based on the number of sacks he could collect. Because he had no layoffs in 2023, all of these incentives were listed in the cap as “not likely to be earned,” and although they will be paid out in 2024, they will not count against the cap until 2025.

Here’s a refresher:

• Two bags: $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

These numbers are not cumulative. So if he reaches six sacks, he won’t make $1 million plus $2.5 million plus $4 million, but $4 million.

Miller currently has four sacks this season, so he has earned $2.5 million and will need two sacks in the final three games to get an additional $1.5 million. If he records four sacks in the final three games, he’ll end up with another $2 million, bringing his total to $6 million.

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

Von Miller’s active bonuses per game for 2024

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

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

More bonuses and incentives from Von Miller 2024

Miller earned his $100,000 workout bonus this offseason for participating in enough weightlifting and optional workouts.

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

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

Releasing Miller would result in a dead cap charge of $15.42 million, taking into account the money they’ve already paid him that hasn’t yet counted against the salary cap. That would save the Bills about $8.5 million in cap space next season. It seems quite likely that the bills will take this route.

If he wants to keep playing, he’ll likely end his career with some incentive-rich one-year deals.

For Miller’s full contract breakdown, see our March article.