Star linebacker Von Miller was ready to take less to play for the Cowboy in Dallas but their offer was paltry compared to the Bills.
In an alternate universe, Von Miller is in Dallas getting ready to play for the Cowboys this year.
In this universe, he’s a member of the Buffalo Bills and gearing up to help Josh Allen and company get over the hump on their quest for a Super Bowl.
It’s crazy to think of how perfect a fit Miller would have been for the Cowboys…and how they completely whiffed on their chance to bring him in.
Cowboys blew a golden opportunity to bring Von Miller home
Dan Pomei’s recent feature on Miller’s road to Buffalo for The Athletic reveals what an advantage Dallas had if they had wanted to seriously pursue the pass rusher.
Miller is from DeSoto, Texas. The regional draw to come home is obvious, but Miller had even more incentive to pick Dallas. His one-year-old son Valor and the child’s mother are “moving to the Dallas area.”
The linebacker admitted he would have given the Cowboys a discount.
“I told them I was ready to come to the Cowboys,” Miller said in The Athletic. “I would have taken less to go to Dallas because it’s Dallas. But I wouldn’t take that much less.”
“That much less” amounts to $50 million.
The Bills offered Miller a six-year deal worth $120 million with three years guaranteed. The Rams were offering a three-year deal worth more than $20 million per year with two years guaranteed.
What did the Cowboys put on the table? The five-year, $70 million deal that Randy Gregory turned down, with two years guaranteed.
Signing with Dallas on that deal wouldn’t have been a discount. It would have been a ripoff.
The Cowboys had their chance. They didn’t take it seriously.