The Dallas Cowboys have gone through an interesting offseason when it comes to pass rushers. In the early stages of free agency, the club looked as if they were going to retain Randy Gregory. However, after agreeing to terms, the outside linebacker pivoted and decided to break that verbal agreement and ink a deal with the Denver Broncos instead.
In the aftermath of that deal with Gregory falling apart, Dallas turned its attention towards veteran pass-rusher Von Miller. Both sides had a mutual interest in joining forces, but the DeSoto, Texas native ultimately decided to sign a mammoth six-year, $120 million contract with the Buffalo Bills. Had Dallas gotten a bit closer to that deal, however, it appears as though we’d be talking about a homecoming with Miller.
According to a report from The Athletic, the Cowboys offered the same deal they offered Gregory — a five-year, $70 million contract with two guaranteed years — to Miller, who also had an offer on the table from the Los Angeles Rams. Miller told The Athletic that had Dallas’ offer been close to what Buffalo was bringing to the table, he would have agreed to a lesser deal to join his hometown team.
“I told them I was ready to come to the Cowboys,” Miller told Dan Pompei of The Athletic. “I would have taken less to go to Dallas because it’s Dallas. But I wouldn’t take that much less.”
The deal Miller signed with Buffalo also included $51.345 million in guarantees over the first three years, which is nearly three-fourths of the Cowboys’ entire reported contract offer. While the dream of playing for his boyhood team may be spoiled for the moment, Miller is being paid handsomely to be on a Bills team that is the betting favorite to win the Super Bowl this season.
Just for reference, Buffalo is currently +650 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2022. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are +1800, which is good for the sixth-best odds to win it all. So, the pass rusher not only got a more lucrative contract, but he also gave himself a better chance of adding a third Super Bowl to his résumé by taking the route that he did.