Broncos Mailbag: Should Denver look to assess Von Miller's trade value?

Denver Post sports writer Mike Klis posts his Broncos Mailbag monthly during the offseason.

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Jim - You made all the astute points as to why the Broncos would consider trading Von Miller. They are also the reasons why the Broncos shouldn't.

We're still talking about a tremendous talent here. A once-every-decade type of player, at least when his head is on straight and knee is sound.

Yes, Miller had a year to forget in 2013, most of which was his doing. The problem going forward is his torn ACL and that it happened so late in the season. He should play Game 1 in 2014, but it will take at least half a season before his knee regains full strength - and he may not be completely right until 2015.

Which brings us back to your point of whether the Broncos should trade him. You're talking about trading a commodity when his stock is at its lowest. Those kind of deals usually don't work out well.

But let's say even with all his baggage, the Broncos could get a late first-round or early second-round draft pick for him. That would give the Broncos a solid starter, but probably not a huge difference-maker. You can get those guys in free agency.

And then what happens when Miller gets 15 sacks, 25 tackles for loss and five forced fumbles in 2015 - numbers he exceeded, by the way, in 2012?

I believe the best move the Broncos can make with Miller is remain patient and hope a more mature version of Miller circa 2012 returns. Here's the kicker: He is still three weeks shy of his 25th birthday. It's hard to fathom Miller's best years are behind him. Maybe they are, but I believe the chances are better of him returning to form than the Broncos acquiring a similar talent in return.

Mike - Much of the blame has been put on Peyton Manning's Super Bowl performance. However, I rarely hear or read comments saying Peyton is one of the reasons Denver made the Super Bowl. The Broncos were 8-8 the year before Manning arrived, and the Colts were 2-14 after Manning's neck injury (10-6 before injury). After the Super Bowl beatdown, do you think Peyton has masked the team's deficiencies, and Denver is still the same 8-8 team?-- Matt, La Jolla, Calif.

Wait a minute. You rarely hear or read Manning getting any credit for the Broncos reaching the Super Bowl?

I love La Jolla. The Cove is spectacular if a little smelly. I love you, Matt. But I would present quite the opposite is true. The way I view it, Manning gets almost all credit in victory and others get more blame in defeat.

Manning would rather it not be this way. But that's how it is.

All year, Manning and his offense had been able to overcome the team's massive amount of injuries that especially damaged the defense. I've said this before: I thought the Broncos would lose their first playoff game against San Diego. The primary reason was I thought their defense had run out of players.

Give coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio credit for scheming up ways to not only hold that unit together, but also play extremely well in the four games leading into the Super Bowl.

But Manning played extremely well in the playoff games against San Diego and then New England, and the Broncos won. Manning did not play well in the first half against Seattle in the Super Bowl, and the Broncos were destroyed.

The way I have come to view the catastrophe in the Meadowlands is the Broncos went as far as they could go - and they had nothing left to give the superior opponent that was the Seattle Seahawks a fair fight.

The reason why Moreno was flat-footed was his momentum was going one way while the ball hung up behind him. He put on the brakes, but Malcolm Smith got the jump going the other way.

I know it looked bad on TV, but Moreno had no chance to come back and catch that ball. The problem with that play was Broncos tackles Orlando Franklin and Chris Clark didn't block their guys. Manning was loading up to throw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas, who had badly beaten both Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas on a deep post, when the quarterback got hit by left defensive end Cliff Avril.

Connect there and it's 15-7. Instead it was 22-0. You're right, Bob, the pick-six sealed the deal. But Moreno wasn't to blame.

Which free agent(s) do you think John Elway most hopes to re-sign, and which positions will he look to restock through the draft or new signings instead? My concern would be that he'll overpay for Eric Decker when that money might be better used to strengthen the defense.-- Rob, Rye, N.Y.

Rob - The Broncos share your concern. They want Decker back but the bulk of their offseason budget is on the defensive side.

Their top priority among their own appears to be cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. After the Miami Dolphins just re-signed cornerback Brett Grimes - who's had a more consistent career - to a four-year deal worth $8 million per, the Broncos should be able to re-sign DRC on a multiyear deal worth $6.5 million to $7 million per year.

I think the Broncos will also try to re-sign Shaun Phillips and Andre 'Bubba' Caldwell, neither of whom will blow the budget. I think they'll let Moreno go and take the training wheels off Montee Ball and C.J. Anderson.

I think Wesley Woodyard will try to find a starting weakside linebacker job elsewhere.

I'm not sure where the team stands on Zane Beadles, Robert Ayers or Jeremy Mincey. But I wouldn't count out a Decker return. What may hurt Decker's market value is everyone considers this the best draft class of receivers in at least 10 years.

I can see Decker getting offers and the Broncos getting a chance to at least match the highest bid. I'm guessing here but providing Decker's best offer doesn't exceed $7 million, I think the Broncos bring him back. If his top offer reaches $8 million a year, I think Elway huddles up with his men and they have a long discussion about whether to match.

Jim - Landow was one of two people the Broncos interviewed for their strength and conditioning coordinator position in 2011.

The Broncos' then-triumvirate of football operations boss John Elway, coach John Fox and general manager Brian Xanders were impressed with Landow's credentials - a client list topped by Missy Franklin doesn't get any better - but ultimately Luke Richesson was the choice in large part because of his previous experience with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The key for strength and conditioning coaches is avoiding soft-tissue injuries. The torn groins and hamstrings crippled the 2008 Broncos down the stretch.

Under Richesson's program, the Broncos stayed remarkably healthy in 2011 and 2012 and their injuries this year had nothing to do with the conditioning program. Rahim Moore and Derek Wolfe suffered from uncommon afflictions. Kevin Vickerson dislocated his hip. Ryan Clady and Champ Bailey experienced unfortunate missteps and messed up their Lisfrancs. Von Miller and Chris Harris had bad-luck leg plants and their ACLs tore. Wes Welker suffered two concussions.

That's football. Richesson has done an excellent job. And all is well with Landow. He remains the sports performance director for the Steadman-Hawkins clinic and his profile has been raised in the past year through his training with the Ultimate Fighters Championship competitors. He also continues to work with Olympians, NFL veterans and draft-eligible prospects.

JHawk - I feel for you. My daughter and her fiance spent a few hours trying to figure out a way to pay for tickets - face value for an upper-deck seat was $800 - and the expensive trip and visit to New York/New Jersey.

I helped talk them out of it and come Monday morning after the Super Bowl, I was bummed out just thinking about how terrible it would have been for them to have spent all that money - to witness that horror show.

Awful. I think there was a lesson here. We all get too emotionally attached to sports and our sports teams. It was a reality check. Hug your kid. Take your wife out to dinner. Maybe, even consider taking her to a place where there aren't TV sets showing the game.

OK, now I'm going too far the other way. Let's be real about this reality check.

Keith - This reminds me of a 'Saturday Night Live' skit that spoofed the old CBS' 'NFL Today' pregame show with Brett Musburger and Jimmy 'The Greek' Snyder.

It was the Saturday night before, I believe, the Broncos were to play the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXIV. (Snyder was fired by CBS on Jan. 16, 1988, before the Bronco blowout Super Bowl losses to Washington and San Francisco.)

Musburger (played by Kevin Nealon) asks Snyder (played by Phil Hartman) who he thinks will win the Super Bowl.

Hartman/Snyder spends some time raving about the Giants, then couches his analysis by saying, 'But the Broncos won the AFC and that has to be a factor!'

It does seem like a cycle of NFC dominance is repeating as it has won four of the last five Super Bowls. From the 1981 season through 1996, the NFC won 15 of 16 Super Bowls, and 13 in a row. The Broncos got caught up in that, losing three Super Bowls during that stretch.

But it was the Broncos who snapped that NFC streak in the 1997 season. It may be up to them again.

That a baby, Pete. Chin up. I can make a list of about 18 'one things' the Broncos must do to return to the Super Bowl, but if forced to pick just one, it is this: Keep 18 healthy.

Manning will be 38 next year. Health willing, he will play at 39 and 40 years old. He loves playing quarterback. Loves it. It's why he came back from four neck surgeries at a relatively advanced age. He didn't come back to prove he can. He came back because he wanted to play.

Yes, the records were there, and the money and commercials were there, and the chance to be the 'greatest ever' was there. But more than any of that, the game is the thing. He loves Tuesdays. He loves Wednesdays and Thursdays. He loves meetings. He loves watching film.

This is the anti-Allen Iverson. Manning loves practice.

And it's not like he's hanging on. In fact, Manning and Elway may be the only two players in NFL history whose career graph was ascending going into their 38th year of age. Y.A. Tittle was never better than at 37, but he declined precipitously during the 1964 season in which he turned 38.

Both Elway and Tittle retired before they turned 39, so the end can rather suddenly appear. But if Manning declines to, say, 75 percent of the player he was in 2013, he's still throwing for 41 touchdowns and 4,108 yards.

So, 2014 is not necessarily 'Super Bowl or bust' for the Broncos, at least in terms of the Manning era. That may have been the plan when Manning signed a contract with the Broncos that only provided three years worth of guarantees. But I'd bet on him drawing that non-guaranteed $19 million salary in 2015. And then I'd say there's a 54 percent (18 times 3 more years - Get it! Get it!) chance he collects another $19 million salary for playing in 2016.

Pose a Broncos- or NFL-related question for the Broncos Mailbag. Listen to Mike Klis on 'Klis' Korner' on Monday-Friday at 102.3 FM ESPN.