What should Washington fans expect from Von Miller?

July 30, 2025

by Steve Thomas

Washington’s recent signing of longtime NFL star pass rusher Von Miller was very much a need signing, perhaps even an emergency.  After all, the team lost last year’s sack leader, Dante Fowler, to the Dallas Cowboys and their longtime star defensive tackle Jonathan Allen to the Vikings.  To top that off, Washington’s front office really didn’t do much for the pass rush in either free agency or the draft, in favor of Dorance Armstrong and some young and relatively untested players such as Deatrich Wise, Clelin Ferrell, Jordan Magee, and others, as well as known run stuffer Javon Kinlaw in the defensive tackle position.  Washington’s defensive strategy was clearly to do something about last year’s horrendous run defense – a worthy goal – but that appeared to come at the cost of the pass rush.

Something had to be done, and that’s where Miller comes in.  He was a first round pick by the Denver Broncos in 2011, so if you count the 2020 season in which he didn’t play due to injury, he’s been around the NFL for 15 years and probably will be a Hall of Fame inductee.  In total, Miller has played in 186 games, with 161 starts, and has 581 combine tackles, including 446 solo and 171 for loss.  He also has 129.5 sacks, which comes out to an average of almost 10 per season.  His high water mark for sacks was his second season, 2012, in which he has 18.5 for the Broncos.  His season high in tackles was 78 in 2016.  Miller has been selected to 8 Pro Bowls, and earned 3 First-Team All-Pro and 4 Second-Team All-Pro awards.

That having been said, he hasn’t had 10 sacks in a season since his 14.5 in 2018, and he’s only had 19 sacks in the last 4 seasons combined.  Miller had 0 sacks in 12 games in 2023 and just 6 in 13 games last season.  At 36 years old, he’s clearly past his prime, which is why he was available to be signed in mid-July.

It also needs to be mentioned here that Miller was suspended for four games last season after he was arrested and charged with a third degree felony for an alleged November 30, 2023, assault of his pregnant longtime girlfriend[1].  The woman alleged that she and Miller were arguing and Miller yelled at her to “get out” and then “began to push and shove her.”[2]  The charges were later dropped after the woman recanted her allegations despite existence of “minor” abrasions on her neck and left hand that were documented by photographs.[3]  Miller was also investigated for a previous allegation of domestic violence in 2021 but was not charged.[4]  I have no knowledge of the truth of either situation, but the NFL was confident enough in the allegations regarding the 2023 incident to suspend him.  In my view, Washington should not sign a player with this kind of incident on his record.  Team leadership felt otherwise, which doesn’t reflect well on them.  Enough said.

The question of the day as it relates to his play on the field is what sort of contribution Miller both can and will be expected to make for Washington this year.  The details of his contract are mostly unavailable, except that it is a one year deal, so we can’t read into that too much.  His record shows that the last time that he was a full-time starter who played most of the defensive snaps was in 2022 – the most recent time in which he played more than 50% of the defensive snaps in a game was in week 12 of the 2022 season.  His participation in the 2023 and 2024 seasons were mostly in the 30% – 40% range.

That’s not necessarily a knock on Miller.  At 36 years old, nobody should expect him to play at the same level as he did when he was in his 20s.  The question is whether he can play a productive role within the context of Washington’s defense and his current limitations.

Let’s first work under the assumption that Washington isn’t going to drastically increase his snaps.  The team has him listed as a linebacker, not a defensive lineman, so that puts Miller into the group with starters Frankie Luvu and Bobby Wagner.  I assume this means that Washington intends to use Wagner in similar fashion to what Buffalo did last year, which is to say placement of Wagner in a variety of situations, often directly off the line.

Washington doesn’t have an obvious starter in its second outside linebacker position opposite Frankie Luvu, but regardless of who the regular starter is, I think Miller’s role will likely continue t be in the game for something like 30% – to 40% of the snaps, which is a better way to view his probable contributions.

I don’t think Miller is completely washed up, yet, despite his comparatively negative 2023 and 2024 seasons.  What I’ve seen of his 2024 film with Buffalo Bills shows that Miller probably doesn’t have the burst that he had in his younger, prime days, but he does still have his moves.  I think it’s likely that he’ll be able to make a contribution in some capacity in both pass rush and run defense.  I can’t imagine that he’ll drastically improve out of nowhere and return to the production if he peak a decade ago.  Miller doesn’t have a huge injury history, but the idea that he’s going to all of a sudden play in the 70% – 80% of the snaps necessary to achieve those kind of results just isn’t realistic.

I therefore think that Washington will see some combination of Miller and someone else, perhaps Jordan Magee, subbing in and out for each other, with Magee taking the bulk of the snaps.  I might be wrong here, but I find it difficult to believe that they’ll put Miller in the weakside role due to his age and the fact that he’s primarily known as an edge rusher.  Therefore, I think Washington plans on starting Frankie Luvu on the weak side, with Miller splitting time with others on the strong side.  I’m not sure Magee is a strongside linebacker based on his size.

My statistical prediction is that Miller will be roughly in ballpark of his time with the Bills, which is in the 6 – 8 sack range.  He should be yet another valuable veteran presence who will do some good, but not at the levels he was known for in his prime.

What do you think about Von Miller’s chances to contribute here in Washington?  Let me know in the comment section.

 

[1] https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39013616/warrant-issued-bills-von-miller-alleged-assault

[2] https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/buffalo-bills-nfl-von-miller-faces-arrest-in-dallas-texas-domestic-violence-case/287-2904617b-5d0d-4252-a321-28d8f61807f0

[3] Id.

[4] https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/sports/von-millers-pregnant-girlfriend-accuses-him-of-pushing-her-putting-his-hands-on-her-neck/3400461/