DALLAS — Former Dallas Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus called the Dallas Cowboys‘ signing of Von Miller a bad deal during a segment this week on 105.3 The Fan. Broaddus reached that conclusion after going back through Miller’s 2025 tape in Washington.
Dallas announced the agreement Sunday night. The one-year contract is worth $5.5 million and carries a maximum value of $7.5 million. Miller signed with Washington last year for $6.1 million on a deal that could have reached $10.5 million with incentives.
In 2025, Miller appeared in all 17 games for the Commanders and started three of them. He finished with 9.0 sacks, 26 tackles, and six tackles for loss on 420 defensive snaps, the third-lowest snap total of his career. The sacks led Washington.
Bryan Broaddus Questions Von Miller’s 2025 Tape
Broaddus said Miller has not been a difference-maker on the field for a long time.
“If this is a signing to say that Von Miller is going to be a starter or with the upper tier of guys as a rush end with the Dallas Cowboys,” Broaddus said, “or at outside linebacker where they are going to play him, this is a bad, bad deal. Because he is not that guy anymore.
“If this guy’s name was Von Smith, you would not sign him off the tape he showed last year,” Broaddus continued. “You have to go back and watch it, he does not have the burst, he does not have the close, the sacks that he got were, they were times that mistakes were made by offensive linemen, guys falling down.”
Pro Football Focus gave Miller a 64.4 overall defensive grade for 2025. That ranked 66th among 115 qualified edge defenders. His 62.4 pass-rush grade ranked 69th at the position, and PFF charted him with 36 total pressures.
Washington used Miller on 36.9% of its defensive snaps. In its March free agency rankings, PFF noted that Miller had not cleared 450 snaps in a season in five years.
James Houston and the Cowboys’ Edge Rotation
Dallas signed James Houston on July 22, 2025, days before training camp opened. He played all 17 games last season without a start and finished with 5.5 sacks, second on the team. Houston was on the field for 28% of the defensive snaps.
PFF graded Houston at 69.1 overall for 2025, which ranked 48th among 115 qualified edge defenders. His 69.5 pass-rush grade ranked 42nd. PFF charted him with 25 total pressures.
Broaddus would give those snaps to Houston.
“He is a guy who when he is on the field, he is not a big difference-maker and he has not been a big difference-maker for a long time,” Broaddus explained. “If you are going to tell me, OK, Von Miller will come and play 15 plays, I will challenge you, I will challenge you with all my belief that if you play Houston, you play James Houston 15 snaps and you play Von Miller 15 snaps, James Houston will have more pressures and more sacks than Von Miller.”
Dallas traded for Rashan Gary in the offseason and drafted Malachi Lawrence 23rd overall in April. Donovan Ezeiruaku returns for a second season after the Cowboys took him 44th overall in 2025. Sam Williams re-signed on a one-year deal. That group now carries Gary, Lawrence, Ezeiruaku, Williams, Houston, and Miller.
Von Miller on His Role Beyond Snap Count
Miller’s case for himself at 37 starts with the two Super Bowl teams he played on, where the work never came down to one player.
“I can still play football,” Miller said. “But I can still contribute in other ways. On my Super Bowl teams, it’s not just one person that gets it done. I think if you can say what you want about my play on the field, and what I got left, but when it comes to being a great teammate, if there is a Hall of Fame for that, I am going to the Hall of Fame.
“To be honest, I am probably the best teammate that ever played in the National Football League, and I say that with all the confidence in the world,” Miller continued. “My ability to get other players around me to play at a level they wouldn’t normally play at, nobody does that like me. And I said the other day that I can contribute 10 or 15 plays, that is without even being on the field.”
Miller has 138.5 career sacks in 203 games. He is tied with Cowboys Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware for ninth on the NFL’s all-time list. Among active players, nobody has more. Denver took him second overall in 2011 and he was the MVP of Super Bowl 50.
The Cowboys allowed 511 points last season, the most in the league, and they finished 7-9-1. Dallas tied for 26th in sacks. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker installed a 3-4 base this offseason. Last week, the Cowboys signed Quinnen Williams to a three-year, $105.9 million extension.
Dallas plays at Arizona on Saturday at 9 p.m. CT. The game airs on NFL Network and on CBS 11 locally.
