Von Miller, Broncos Still At Odds

With a few days to digest, it seems any hard feelings linebacker Von Miller had with the Denver Broncos have subsided at least some.

Miller and his representatives turned down a six-year, $114.5 million offer from the team last week and frustration had bubbled on both sides of the negotiating table, including Miller cropping out John Elway from a photo taken at the White House that Miller later posted on social media.

However in an appearance on Chelsea Handler's Netflix talk show, "Chelsea," Miller offered a verbal olive branch or two.

Asked by Handler to explain the dynamics of the franchise-player tag and his negotiations with the team, Miller said:

"I want to be a Bronco forever, I just want the feeling to be the same from the Broncos,'' Miller said.

After some applause from the studio audience, Handler then asked Miller if there was a possibility he would sit out the season.

"Nah, we still have a month,'' Miller said. "I just can't see myself -- my boys T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, Kayvon Webster, DeMarcus Ware, all those guys, I built very, very close relationships with all those guys and I would like to continue to build that for the rest of my career.''

The stalemate between Miller and the Broncos, at the moment, largely centers on guaranteed money. While the Broncos offer to Miller would be the biggest total contract for a defensive player in history, the guaranteed money is less in the first two years of the deal than Olivier Vernon received from the Giants and what Fletcher Cox gets in a deal signed this week with the Philadelphia Eagles.

In the offer from the Broncos that was turned away by Miller and his representatives, there was $38.9 million in guaranteed money in the first two years of deal, $58 million in potential guarantees overall. Vernon has $52.5 million worth of potential guarantees in a five-year, $85 million deal with $40.5 million guaranteed on signing and $12 more potentially guaranteed on the fifth day of the league year in 2018.

Vikings Prepare to Defend NFC North Title

Optimism around the Minnesota Vikings is running high as the team prepares to defend its NFC North title -- so high that running back Adrian Peterson said everyone on the team's roster should be harboring Super Bowl expectations.

The running back restated his belief on Wednesday that the Vikings "have the pieces" to win their first Super Bowl next February. What's more, the NFL's leading rusher said if any of his teammates aren't thinking the same way, they shouldn't be here.

"We have a long way to go, but we have the pieces of what it takes to accomplish that. So there's nothing wrong with saying it," Peterson said. "If any other guy on this team don't feel that way, we should trade him and bring somebody in that feels that [we can win a Super Bowl]. We all know what we are trying to accomplish and I feel like we have what it takes."

Peterson, who turned 31 in March, makes his offseason home in Houston, and is hoping he'll be playing for a championship there in February.

He said he's trying to become a better fit in the offense on shotgun runs, and get smoother as a pass-catcher. He said after last season he needed to be more versatile, citing running back Jerick McKinnon as an example of what he needs to bring to the offense. And while it remains to be seen how many new facets Peterson can add to his game at age 31, he's feeling a sense of urgency to help push the Vikings over the top.

"I don't see an end in my future anywhere soon, but of course, I know I'm coming around to that last lap," he said. "I'm itching to get a couple [Super Bowls] before I'm done playing this game, so we need to start immediately." -- by ESPN