A few hours after Randy Gregory flipped his commitment from the Dallas Cowboys to the Denver Broncos, NFL Network reporter Jane Slater tweeted that there was very strong interest on Von Miller’s part in coming to Dallas, which got the free agency rumors flying. She followed the tweet up with additional information regarding the Cowboys’ interest in Miller.
Von Miller Rumors: Why Cowboys make sense
Miller has been linked to the Cowboys for the entirety of his career. The 11-year veteran played in Denver for 10 seasons before moving on to Los Angeles, where he won his second Lombardi Trophy. He has an eight-acre poultry farm in DeSoto, Texas. Miller majored in Poultry Science at Texas A&M and had always dreamed of raising chickens when he wasn’t sacking quarterbacks.
He was born in DeSoto and grew up in the area. It’s not farfetched to think he would want to return home late in his career after already winning two Super Bowls and try to bring a third to his hometown.
Cowboys’ loss could be their gain
Dallas had a five-year, $70 million chunk of change set aside for Gregory. They still have money to spend in free agency. There is a hole opposite Demarcus Lawrence, the man who took a ridiculously team-friendly deal to help create the space for Gregory.
After earning over $19 million annually on his last contract, maybe the 31-year-old Miller would enjoy the comfort of his hometown on a less lucrative deal. Having no state income tax doesn’t influence a ton of professional athletes while they’re playing, but many former pros reside in the DFW area for that very reason.
Another source “we’re working on it” let’s put it this way. Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams NEVER yielded these responses. https://t.co/25PbctnLnb
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) March 15, 2022
The above wording is significant. The Cowboys have always given the “due diligence” line. They tend to let the deals come to them. It’s how they’ve attacked, or defended, free agency over the past decade.
But the Miller rumors will continue to flow with Slater’s follow-up tweet. “We’re working on it” is incredibly proactive for a Cowboys front office that is never proactive about outside free agents.
But what might be even more important to the Cowboys is the public relations side of a possible deal with Miller. They botched the Gregory contract. There are no two ways about it. They had an agreement and then tried to get cute in the eleventh hour. But signing the hometown hero will make everyone forget about their mismanagement, including Gregory’s most prominent supporters.
Miller still has the juice
The passage below is from Pro Football Network’s Top 100 Free Agent Rankings. Miller was the No. 8 player in the class:
“Miller is still one of the best pass rushers in the game. After not playing in 2020 due to an ankle injury, he began the season by being named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month for September. He was held sackless for the next seven games but then took off in Week 15 with the Rams, looking like his old self again.
“Miller was a hired assassin for Los Angeles in 2021. LA traded for him at the deadline, opting to go all-in on a Super Bowl in their first season with Matthew Stafford. Miller played an age-defying performance against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round that included a postseason career-high 10 pressures.
“None were more aesthetically pleasing than this ghost move against Donovan Smith. After setting him up with the long-arm a few times, it was time to hit his bread and butter.
If $9 million average annual value (AAV) is all it takes to sign Miller, every contender with a trace of cap space should do their due diligence on the veteran. He averaged over 50 snaps a game for LA through the Divisional Round, so it’s not like he’s a ‘pitch-count’ candidate, even at his age.”