DeMarcus Ware described a joyful reaction after Von Miller agreed to a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys, saying he immediately called his former Denver teammate by video. Ware recalled a conversation after a 2013 game against the Broncos in which Miller told him, “Man, it would be so cool to play for the Dallas Cowboys.” Ware played for Dallas from 2005 to 2013.
Ware said conversations over the past two months included mentions of Miller joining the Cowboys. Miller told Ware that Dallas was the only team to make serious inquiries about signing him, and Ware noted Miller had posted photos in a Cowboys uniform and was working out near The Star. “He kept saying, ‘I think I’m going to the Dallas Cowboys,'” Ware said.
Miller’s move represents a homecoming: he is a DeSoto native who played college football at Texas A&M. Ware emphasized Miller’s championship experience, citing Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos, where the pair were teammates, and Super Bowl LVI with the Los Angeles Rams, and said that experience can help Dallas on the field and in the locker room.
Ware suggested Miller can elevate Dallas’ young edge rushers, naming Donovan Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence as players who could benefit. Ware compared the situation to when he joined the Broncos in 2014 and helped Miller develop, and projected Miller could still produce “8-11 sacks” while making teammates better. Miller had nine sacks last season with Washington.
The Cowboys view Miller as a piece of their pass rush group, not the leader of it, and the team acknowledged it would be unreasonable to expect Miller to replicate his Denver peak at age 37. Miller’s 138.5 career sacks are the most among active players and are tied with Ware for 13th on the NFL’s all-time list. Ware said putting on the Cowboys jersey is “icing on the cake” for Miller and added, “this is all he wanted,” calling him “like a kid in the candy store.”
