COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Von Miller has conflicted feelings about the Denver Broncos honoring their Super Bowl 50 team during alumni weekend in October.
That Week 7 game with the New York Giants is when the late Demaryius Thomas will be inducted into the team's ring of fame during halftime ceremonies.
“I would love to be there,” Miller said Wednesday during an event for his charity, Von’s Vision, “but I hope to not be there.”
That's because the NFL's active sacks leader and 36-year-old free agent aims to be playing a 15th season in the NFL.
“I hope to not be there — unless I’m playing for the Giants or the Broncos," said Miller, who was released by the Buffalo Bills in March to free up salary cap space.
Although Miller has often talked about a reunion with Denver, where he starred from 2011-21, accumulating a team record 110 1/2 sacks, he doesn't think re-signing with the Broncos is realistic — at least not in 2025.
Asked if the Broncos had reached out to him or his agent, Miller said, "I haven’t heard anything. But I mean, if you look at it this year, it really doesn’t — it really doesn’t make sense. They got two really, really good rushers that are best in the league (in) Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto, they are incredible rushers.
“And the guys underneath them, they come in, they produce sacks too, and they play special teams. I’m not playing special teams,” Miller added. “So they kind of — that decision kind of makes itself. I think at 36 years old, I can say that I probably won’t be doing that, But, yeah, just this year, probably not. But, you know, the year after that, next year, we’ll see what happens.”
Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and he added another Super Bowl ring that season to the one he won in Denver following the 2015 season. He spent the last three years in Buffalo but injuries prevented him from having the kind of impact he'd had previously.
The Bills released him in March because he was set to have a $23.8 million cap hit this season.
“Offseason’s been a little bit longer than I expected it to be, but that’s just how it’s supposed to be,” Miller said. “Whenever you have all this time, you reminisce and you think back about all these OTAs and these summer training sessions where you’re like, ‘Man, why I gotta be here? Why I gotta be here? OTAs, why I gotta do this?’ And now you’re sitting at home like, ‘Man, I wish I was at OTAs right now.’”
Miller said he's certain he'll play for somebody this season and if he has a productive year, he aims to play in 2026, too. Deep down, he hopes that's in Denver. He had high praise for the organization and said he'll always be a fan.
Miller, who has 129 1/2 career sacks, said he still has plenty to offer both in production and leadership.
“I’m a locker-room guy through and through, and I can still roll out of the bed and rush the passer," Miller said. “That’s what I got.”
Miller said it's hard to believe it's been a decade since he led Denver to its third Super Bowl title. Asked for his favorite memory of Thomas, that was it.
“When I think about D.T. going in the ring of honor, I think about him after the Super Bowl, everybody was happy,” Miller said. “That feeling. It lasted all summer. Summer of ’16 was incredible. And seeing D.T. happy and smiling is the picture that I have forever.”
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Von Miller playfully tries on a pair of youth frames while attending an event for his charity, Von's Vision, which provides free eye exams and glasses for underprivileged youth, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/Arnie Stapleton)
Von Miller helps a young girl pick out two pairs of frames for her eyeglasses, as part of Miller's charity, Von's Vision, which provides free eye exams and glasses for underprivileged children, on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo/Arnie Stapleton)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
