OXNARD, Calif. — Von Miller has not practiced for the Dallas Cowboys yet. He has already told Donovan Ezeiruaku what he wants their relationship to look like.
Miller agreed to terms with Dallas on Sunday on a one-year deal. Ezeiruaku, the Cowboys’ second-round pick in 2025, has known him since his rookie year.
Miller spent three seasons in Denver alongside DeMarcus Ware, who arrived in 2014 after nine years with the Cowboys. The two won Super Bowl 50 together in February 2016, with Miller named the game’s Most Valuable Player. Ware retired after the 2016 season.
Ezeiruaku was asked whether Miller had talked about Ware.
“That’s exactly what he said,” Ezeiruaku said. “He said he wanted to be the D-Ware for him to me, if that makes sense. And coming from a guy that’s a Hall of Fame guy, he’ll be a first ballot, in my opinion, that means a lot. That means he sees the potential in myself, but not only just me and Mally as a young edge rusher, Malachi Lawrence.”
Donovan Ezeiruaku Has Been Talking To Von Miller Since Last Year
Ezeiruaku said the two met for the first time last year after he moved to Dallas and talked for about 45 minutes. He met Miller again at the Sack Summit this offseason.
“I remember the first time we met too, we talked for like 45 minutes and I was just trying to pick his brain,” Ezeiruaku explained. “And now him being my teammate, it’ll be really good.”
Miller has been working out at The Star, and Ezeiruaku said the possibility of a signing had been in the air for a while.
“Did I think it was gonna happen? Yeah. Yeah, I thought it was gonna happen,” Ezeiruaku said. “I’ve been talking to him since, and it was in the air, and we were talking about the possibilities. But I know they had to get some things right on the contractual side, or whatever the case would be. I don’t really know that part. But yeah, I pretty much thought it was a possibility for sure.”
Ezeiruaku started playing football the year Miller entered the league. Denver drafted Miller second overall in 2011.
“I told him to his face a couple times when I was at the Sack Summit,” Ezeiruaku said. “I started playing football the year he got to the league, and being a defensive player, being an edge rusher in high school, whatever, I studied his film a lot. I told him that to his face. So him being my teammate is pretty cool, for sure.”
Asked what he can learn, Ezeiruaku did not qualify it.
“Everything. Everything. Everything,” he said. “What to do on and off the field at times, but especially on the field, because we play the same position.”
The Move Donovan Ezeiruaku Wants To See
Ezeiruaku has a favorite from the film study.
“Studying his film, his ghost rush is really cool, and he’ll say the same thing,” Ezeiruaku said. “A lot of his rushes come off of power, and obviously his get-off. So it starts at the get-off, and then he’ll power rush, fall inside, make a play, but then that kind of sets up for the ghost move.”
Miller has 138.5 career sacks, tied with Ware for ninth on the NFL’s official list, which dates to 1982. He is the active leader, 6.5 ahead of New Orleans’ Cameron Jordan. Miller has made eight Pro Bowls and won two Super Bowls, and he had 9 sacks for the Washington Commanders last season while playing 36.9% of the defensive snaps.
Ezeiruaku had 40 tackles and 2 sacks in 17 games as a rookie, with nine starts. He won the Ted Hendricks Award and was the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year at Boston College in 2024.
What Brian Schottenheimer Told The Room
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer met with the outside linebackers after the news broke.
“Just letting us know what was going on and what he’ll bring to the table, and what he expects out of myself, RG, Mally, James, Sam, Marist, the guys,” Ezeiruaku said. “That was pretty much it. It wasn’t anything too crazy or anything like that.”
Dallas has three first-round picks in the room. Rashan Gary arrived by trade this offseason, Malachi Lawrence went 23rd overall in April, and Miller is the third. James Houston, Sam Williams, Marist Liufau, Tyrus Wheat, and Isaiah Land fill it out.
Miller has trained with pass rush coach BT Jordan, who has worked alongside Cowboys assistant Chidera Uzo-Diribe for years. Schottenheimer said Monday the two teach the position the same way.
“It helps a lot,” Ezeiruaku said. “Everyone in the same corner, so the same coaching points. And even to that point, they’ll even get more detailed. And Von might say certain things that he’s learned over the past few years. And Rashan, RG, might say the same thing. And it’ll just help me develop as a pass rusher.”
The Other No. 6
Ezeiruaku and Camden Brown both wear No. 6. The undrafted rookie receiver caught two touchdown passes at Seattle on Saturday, and Ezeiruaku said his phone lit up afterward.
“It was really cool,” Ezeiruaku said. “Because people like, I know that’s not you, Don. Obviously, I don’t play receiver, but it was really cool.”
Dallas hosts the New Orleans Saints for a joint practice Tuesday in Oxnard. The Cowboys play at the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 22 at 9 p.m. CT.
