Von Miller reveals Cowboys’ lowball offer ruined plan, sent him to Bills

The Dallas Cowboys have had quite a tumultuous offseason. The team has lost many star players in the last few months, but perhaps no situation was quite as embarrassing as the loss of Randy Gregory. The front office was fully prepared to re-sign the veteran defensive end to a five-year, $70 million deal. The Cowboys’ official Twitter account even sent out a tweet welcoming him back to Dallas.

Minutes later, Gregory backed out and was headed to the Broncos due to certain verbiage he didn’t like in the contract with the Cowboys. This left the team without their WR1, WR3, and starting defensive end.

Even more frustrating than the last-minute escape by Gregory was the fact that the Cowboys had multiple opportunities to fill his spot with top-tier free agent talent. For example, many assumed Dallas could bring in former Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner due to his prior experience with Dan Quinn. Wagner would eventually sign with the Rams.

Perhaps the most exciting “almost” of the offseason was the idea that the Joneses could sign reigning Super Bowl champion Von Miller. The outside linebacker would have been a great addition to the roster and the Cowboys had a leg up given the 33-year-old is a Texas native. Current and former Cowboys players even tried to help convince the OLB to sign with Dallas.

In the end, Miller would sign a lucrative deal with the Buffalo Bills. What we knew then is that the Cowboys likely were not willing to offer the Texas native that much money. But in a recent in-depth article with The Athletic, we learned that the Super Bowl champ wanted to play with Dallas, but said no due to a poor offer. The Joneses truly missed out on this opportunity:

"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.”"

Von Miller would have accepted less money than Bills deal to play for Cowboys, but refused lowball Gregory offer

The front office offered Miller the same exact deal they were prepared to give Gregory. Think about that.

Miller is an eight-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro, two-time Super Bowl champ, and a former Super Bowl MVP. How is a person with those accolades worth the same amount of money as a player with zero Pro Bowl or All-Pro nods to his name? The OLB may be 33 years old, but he has only missed more than two games in a season one time in his entire career.

We know the Joneses like to shop in the bargain bin in free agency, but you’d think a player of Miller’s caliber would be an exception to the rule. Not to mention that the OLB literally admitted that he would’ve gladly taken a pay cut to play in Dallas. There’s a difference between a pay cut and a lowball offer that is offensive given a player’s resume.

The now Bill blatantly admitted that he would’ve taken less than the six-year deal with Buffalo that gives him $51.4 million guaranteed in the first three years. In fact, he told The Athletic that he flew to Buffalo to turn down the offer, but they were able to convince him when he showed up.

Losing out on a player that would seriously bolster your roster is always tough. But learning that he would’ve taken a discounted offer to play for the Cowboys and the Joneses still couldn’t get a deal done makes it even worse.