It’s no secret that future Hall of Fame edge rusher has long dreamed of playing for the Dallas Cowboys, his home team and the organization he grew up rooting for with with family in DeSoto.
Miller has said much ad nauseum, even as far back as 2013 when he was in his prime with the Denver Broncos, per Cowboys legendary pass rusher DeMarcus Ware, who would team up with Miller to win Super Bowl 50 after he was released by the Cowboys.
“I can go all the way back to when we played the Broncos [in 2013], and I remember talking to Von after the game, and he’s like, ‘Man, it would be so cool to play for the Dallas Cowboys,'” said Ware said to ESPN.
“I don’t think the Dallas Cowboys know how big of an opportunity this is for them, but not just them, for Von, too,” Ware said. “For him, putting that jersey on, this is like icing on the cake. Like this is all he wanted. I know that’s how he feels.
“I know a lot of people might downplay it, but right now this dude is like a kid in the candy store.”
Miller confirmed as much on a podcast with Shannon Sharpe following has agreement with the Cowboys on Sunday night. He has tried to make his dream into a reality since the end of last season and it started coming together before the Cowboys started training camp, prompting him to send out subtle hints via social media over the last few weeks.
“They were the first team to contact me, like a week before training camp,” Miller said. “It just seemed right to me. I live here in the offseason, my mom and dad are here, my kids are here. I’ve always had blue in my heart since I was a little boy, I always paid attention to the Dallas Cowboys. My earliest memory of football includes the Dallas Cowboys. I heard my daddy screaming in the back and I ran back there to see what was going on, and he was screaming because the Dallas Cowboys had scored a touchdown. That’s my earliest memory of football, and to be back home, it’s a dream within a dream.”
At 37 years old, this is likely the final hurrah for Miller before he retires and gets a first class ticket to the Pro Bowl Hall of Fame. He is a former Super Bowl MVP, the current active sack leader with 138.5, which it tied with Ware for ninth all-time in NFL history, as well as an 8-time Pro Bowl and being named to seven All-Pro Teams and member of the Team of the Decade for 2010.
He is no where near the same player now as he heads into his 15th year after being a 2011 first-round pick of the Broncos out of Texas A&M.
But he did have 9 sacks in 2025 with the Washington Commanders and will provide a huge upgrade to the Cowboys questionable pass rush, which has lacked a playmaker since perennial All-Pro Micah Parsons was traded to Green Bay Packers before last season.
The Cowboys will likely use Miller strictly on pass rush situations, which was his forte in Washington where he played just 37 percent the snaps and still led the team in sacks. It would have also been the most for the Cowboys in 2025.
At worst, he will serve as a mentor to the team’s crew of young pass rusher in Donavon Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence while also given the defense a veteran who knows how to win in the playoffs. Miller has won two Super Bowl titles with the Broncos and Los Angeles Rams.
“You got a lot of guys that come in, older guys that come in, former guys and they can teach, but it’s different when you got somebody sitting in the seat with you that’s going to get padded up with you, learning the same things as you and performing,” Ware said. “Those guys, they looked up to you their whole careers, but now [they realize] I get to play with him? It’s a totally different mindset that the boys are going to have now.”
“It’s the same mentality as when I came to Denver,” Ware added. “It’s like, ‘I know I’m not going to get 20 sacks,’ but I do know that he can make all the guys around him [better]. … As a conglomerate, everybody’s going to get better from the expertise, how to prep for the game, all the little keys and things he can teach, and you’re still probably going to get 8-11 sacks out of this guy. I would sign up for that any day.”
Von Miller got a one-year deal with a base salary of $5.5 million. Incentives pushes the deal to $7.5 million. Last year in Washington, Miller earned a total of $7.1 million after his incentives were reached.
Miller will not play in the preseason. This move was made with getting him ready for the regular season in mind.
The Cowboys believe Miller will be a great fit with new defensive coordinator Christian Parker and his scheme.
“Nothing but huge respect for what he’s accomplished in his career, but in doing our homework on him we feel like he’s a fit in our scheme what were trying to get accomplished with Christian and be successful,” vice president Stephen Jones told the Dallas Morning News. “We have a vision for him. Von certainly embraced that vision with what Christian and our coaching staff has for him.”
He is expected to join the team in Oxnard late Monday or early Tuesday.
The Cowboys released receiver Traeshon Holden to make room for Miller on the roster.
