Von Miller: Would've Signed With Cowboys for Less Than Bills Contract
Von Miller wanted to sign with the Dallas Cowboys badly enough that he would've accepted less than the bid-winning Buffalo Bills did.
But not "that much less.''
According to Miller, the Cowboys offered him the same deal that they offered to Randy Gregory. Via The Athletic: "Outside linebacker Randy Gregory initially agreed to terms to return to the Cowboys in March, but then backed out, instead signing with the Broncos. Miller says Dallas then offered him the same contract they had negotiated with Gregory — a reported five-year, $70 million deal with two years guaranteed.
"I told them I was ready to come to the Cowboys,” Miller says. “I would have taken less to go to Dallas because it’s Dallas. But I wouldn’t take that much less.”
We already knew that new Buffalo Bills linebacker Miller had a plan as he entered free agency this offseason. He wanted to be back home in Dallas.
After the NFL free-agency period started, Miller called former Denver Broncos teammate and former Dallas Cowboy DeMarcus Ware in an attempt to judge the Cowboys' interest in bringing him home, per the Dallas Morning News.
“I remember when Von called me he said ‘Hey is Dallas interested? I’m a free agent.'" Ware said. "And I said, ‘What?! You’re a free agent, what do you mean you’re a free agent? I thought you had one more year?’ He was like, ‘No I’m done [with the Rams], bro.’
"He said 'Call Jerry [Jones] and them and see what they want to do.’ I said 'Are you trying to get them to empty the bank account? What you trying to do?'"
Ware immediately saw the value in adding Miller to the Cowboys' already dangerous defense. Putting Miller on the field alongside DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons would total 172 combined career sacks for defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to utilize.
“So now you would have had that three-headed monster. Think about this: Von Miller. Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence. I don’t know who is coming. That’s what we still need. We still need that right defensive end or outside linebacker guy that can play a little bit interior. Can drop a little bit. That sack perennial athlete.”
Miller mentioned a connection with Dallas and Parsons in a social-media post featuring the two standouts. Miller posted a photo on his Instagram story with Cowboys linebacker Parsons with the caption “damn @_micahparsons11 It almost happened.”
Miller played high school football in DFW, went to college at Texas A&M, and still has Dallas ties.
Miller eventually took the money in Buffalo, signing a six-year, $120 million deal with $51.4 million in guaranteed money. That's obviously substantially greater than the five years and $70 million Dallas dangled - $20 mil APY vs. $14 mil. And now he's a part of a Bills team that hopes his usual Super Bowl contention rubs off on Buffalo - at whatever price.
