“Great Addition!” - Rich on What Signing Von Miller Means for the Cowboys’ Revamped Defense

Rich has been caping for the Cowboys for months. He put them in the top five of his way, way, way too soon power rankings, kept them there in his way too soon rankings, and moved them up to number four. Then Dallas went out and gave him more ammunition.

The reasoning has always been the same. Rich believes the offense is already championship worthy if it can protect the quarterback and keep the running game going after Javonte Williams' resurgence last year. The question was the defense, which gave up the most yards on the ground and in the air. Tighten the bolts there, he argued, and Dallas has a real shot to finally reach the NFC Championship Game, or even make it to SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl 61.

Before anyone could accuse him of reacting to a week of preseason football, Rich cut it off. "It's not that. It's the addition of Von Miller on Sunday."

He knows the pushback. Von is long in the tooth. So Rich went to the numbers. Last year the Cowboys were led in sacks by Jadeveon Clowney with eight and a half. Von, in a non-starting role for the Commanders, had nine. "Von would have led the Cowboys in sacks last year," Rich said.

The on-field math is only part of it. Dallas also added Rashan Gary and has young players all over the defense, and Rich sees Von as the OG in that locker room. When it was suggested that would be his biggest contribution, Rich didn't hesitate. "Damn straight it is."

"How many other pass rushers can come in and have Rashan Gary look at him and go, 'Oh, okay'?" Rich asked. Not many, because Gary is a grown man himself. Rich ran through the rest of the group: Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams up the middle, Osa Odighizuwa, DeMarvion Overshown, and Caleb Downs, who now has someone like Von to show him the ropes.

Then there's the Texas of it all. Rich described Von as a state of Texas legend, a Texas A&M Aggie, a first ballot Hall of Famer, and someone who, in the many times the show has interviewed him, has been a Cowboys fan since birth. He's also older than defensive coordinator Christian Parker, which Rich thinks lets him be "an avatar for the team and the coaching staff."

"This fits in every single possible way," Rich said. Von started only three games for Washington last year but played in all 17 and got those nine sacks. For a team that had 35 sacks total, "he's got to even just do half of that and it's still a cherry on top."

His read on the front office was admiring. "The Joneses are pushing buttons. They know exactly what the hell they're doing." He pictured Brian Schottenheimer and Parker wondering if they could get Von, then getting the call. "They must have been doing freaking cartwheels."

TJ, speaking as a Cowboys fan, wanted more. If Dallas is going all in and busting the budget, he said, don't wait. "Go get that dude. The dude in Las Vegas."

Rich shut that down. "I don't think he's available. I don't think he wants to be available." He said the player has repeatedly said he doesn't want to go anywhere, and the Raiders have their own reasons to feel good about themselves even after a preseason loss to Arizona. He doesn't see them giving away any blue chippers right now, though he allowed that someone could be added midseason the same way Von was added late in the summer.

That timing is part of what Rich likes. Moves made this late are hard to counter within your division and conference. Who else has nine sacks sitting around? He pointed to Houston doing the same thing by adding Clowney and his eight and a half sacks next to Will Anderson.

"When you can add smart, good, Hall of Fame talented players who may not be at the top of their Hall of Fame talent right now, high character guys in the locker room?" Rich said. "Let's go. Well done."