Fletcher Cox's new contract includes 63 million in guarantees. Elway should've given Von the 58.5 while we could've.

Elway needs to see it from Von's perspective: Von and that D were key to winning the SB this season. After losing Peyton and Brent we're going to be relying on this D even more if we want to do back-to-back SB's. The greatness of the D was a team effort, wasn't just one single man. But if there was one, most key single player on D, it was clearly Von. Throw money at your proven talent.

Von needs to see it from Elways: more money for Von means less for others. Plus Von wasn't the only reason that D excelled, it was a team effort -- be careful about overall team morale. Plus, Broncos have been burned a few times in recent years after agreeing to big guaranteed cash contracts and then the player in question afterward kind of deflates, either in terms of on-field performance (eg. DT: love the raw talent, love what he did in the past, but the guy clearly got dropsies this season; PFM himself, clearly stellar the seasons prior to 2015, then, he tanked but still raking in a huge salary), or being out too much with injuries. Elway would prefer to not get burned again. Also, remember what happened with Brent: Elway offered him a fairly huge paycheck, esp given his lack of starts, and his skill deficit and historical performance nowhere near Peyton's (well, pre-2015)... and still, Brent just walked away from that for an even more insane payday at Houston. Elway may be worried of Von pulling the same maneuver -- and unlike Brent, Von's historical performance (and criticality to this D) means he's much more likely to pull it off then Brent, ie. more of the other NFL teams should strongly want Von and be willing to write huge checks. That will have Elway worried about him.

Von (rationally) wants to make as much guaranteed cash money, while he can, while he's hot, while he's most needed, and while his health is still good. Elway (rationally) wants to think about the entire team's morale, and cap space, and also to reduce chance of getting burned, in case Von flames out or flakes out.

/r/DenverBroncos Thread Link - twitter.com