The NFL salary cap is a fantastic idea … for NFL owners.

The cap, and the franchise tag that goes with it, transports average, hard-working fans to the side of billionaire owners during contract negotiations.

Here’s what I mean: Von Miller chases down quarterbacks, while taking severe risks with his future, yet he’s attacked by fans as greedy and selfish. His crime? Demanding his deserved chunk of the precious cap.

The Broncos have $155.27 million to pay players in 2016, and many fans act as if this pile of cash is theirs. Don’t hand too much of my money to one player, the fans shout. Don’t endanger the future of my team.

Miller seeks, as we all do, market value for his services. His market value is somewhere between $60M and $70M in guaranteed money over the next three seasons. His quest has transformed him from Super Bowl hero to selfish villain.

Von doesn’t want to be subjected to the Broncos’ franchise tag, which would pay him $14.129 million next season. He’s said there is “no chance” he will play under the tag, which offers no long-range financial security. He’s threatened to sit out 2016.

And he’s been attacked. Trust me on that one. Here’s a sample of recent comments:

“He’s not a Bronco.”

“Go work a real job, Von and try . living like the rest of us.”

“He will be . responsible for dismantling a championship squad.”

“Let him go.”

Get real, people. Miller was the lone Bronco to earn a place on the NFL’s first-team All-Pro squad. He’s the most physically gifted defender in Bronco history. He’s essential to the franchise’s future.

He’s not greedy. He plays a treacherous sport that devours its young. He seeks his just financial reward for carrying the Broncos and their sleepy offense to a Super Bowl title.

Many fans react as if he was stealing from family funds. In truth, he’s seeking fair pay from an astoundingly wealthy organization.

Craig Domann is a sports agent based in Colorado Springs who represented former Broncos Daniel Graham and Chris Kuper. He’s listening, along with the rest of us, as fans drop verbal bombs on Miller.

“The franchise tag turns a player against team and turns the fans against the player,” Domann says. “A player doesn’t want to play under a one-year deal and everybody turns on him. It’s an unintended consequence.”

In Domann’s view, the Broncos have little choice. Refusing to pay Miller is more dangerous than breaking open the vault and giving him the guaranteed cash he demands, and deserves.

“You have to pay a player that makes an impact like Von. You have to,” Domann says. “He’s the bell cow of that defense. He’s the man. He’s the poster child. He’s whatever you want to call it. If you don’t pay him, it puts doubt in everybody else’s mind in that locker room. If they’re not going to pay Von, they’re not going to pay me.”

Miller recently completed a five-season, $30.75 million contract. He was a bargain for the Broncos last season. He’s done with being a bargain.

The salary cap offers benefits for fans and owners. Because of the enforced economic equality of the cap, a fan in Cleveland can dream of a future reality when the Browns can soar to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady and the Patriots have not dominated the NFL because of superior financial resources. They’ve dominated because of the crafty, slightly sinister mind of Bill Belichick.

But the cap serves primarily as protection for owners. The cap ensures a renegade owner will not pay, say, $50 million a season for Aaron Rodgers to throw touchdowns. The cap, at its heart, protects ultra-wealthy owners from other ultra-wealthy owners.

Meanwhile, team values soar, largely because of taxpayer-subsided stadiums. The Bowlen family purchased the Broncos for $71 million in 1984, about $160 million in 2016 dollars. The franchise is currently worth $1.9 billion, give or take $100 million.

The players are not going hungry. I understand that. The cap pays players no less than 47 percent and no more than 48.5 percent of NFL revenue, in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement of 2011. The cap has swelled $32 million in the past three seasons, up from 2013’s $123 million.

Miller is seeking a fair wage for his labor, which is, I know, a huge chunk of the cap. Take the plunge. Pay the man. No. 58 deserves all the millions coming his way.