The Dallas Cowboys have known for a while that they were most likely going to bring in Von Miller. The DeSoto, TX native has been dropping hints for a while that he was on their radar, and after the signing was announced Sunday night, he confirmed he's been in talks with the club since before training camp began last month.
Now, Miller will be in Dallas for his 15th-career season, looking to add to his active-NFL leading 138.5 career sacks. The surefire Hall of Famer will be a welcome addition to both the youth at his position and hopefully can help elevate RT Terence Steele's pass protection.
But his addition, while likely good for the Cowboys team, means trouble for some roster hopefuls at the edge rusher position.
Miller, at least for the past three seasons, has almost exclusively lined up as a left outside linebacker. The assumption will be Christian Parker will use him where he's most comfortable, terrorizing right tackles on obvious passing downs. Miller's appeared in just over 1/3rd of his team's defensive snaps across the 30 games he's played the last two seasons.
Rashan Gary, acquired via trade this past spring, is the starting left outside linebacker for Dallas. He, too, has primarily played on the left the last few seasons, though he has played on the right side slightly more often than Miller.
First-round rookie Malachi Lawrence spent 13 of his 16 snaps at left outside linebacker in Saturday's preseason opener. It stands to reason the Cowboys are going to ask him to hone his skills at one spot before being asked to move around a ton; so that cements the three players who will primarily play that position.
RIght outside linebacker will be manned by second-year pro Donovan Ezeiruaku, last season's second-round pick. James Houston played on the right side at about a 2:1 clip last year with the Cowboys, so he's likely the top rotational player on that side, rounding out the top five edge rushers on the team.
Which means it's now an uphill battle for both Sam Williams and Marist Liufau, trying to convince the Cowboys to carry six edge rushers onto the 53-man regular season roster.
Both Williams and Liufau played ROLB at a 2:1 clip on Saturday night; they are auditioning for the same position. The latter likely has trade value, something mentioned when including Liufau in our 53-man roster prediction from Sunday. He's clearly an inside backer with blitz ability, and perhaps a team that liked him out of Notre Dame would be interested in acquiring him.
Down ballot, the Cowboys also have Tyrus Wheat, Isaiah Land and Adedayo Odeleye to consider, and 17 practice squad slots available to keep whichever ones they see the most promise in, unless any of them make big leaps in these last handful of camp practices.
It's more likely the immediate carnage to make room for Miller comes from another position, but ultimately his presence will matter greatly for these names in the position group.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: 5 Cowboys whose jobs are in jeopardy after Von Miller signing