Von Miller, the former DeSoto High School standout, has signed with the Dallas Cowboys, bringing the veteran pass rusher back to North Texas and reviving questions about a four-game NFL suspension he served in 2024 tied to a domestic assault allegation in Dallas that never resulted in criminal charges.
Miller's suspension traces back to November 29, 2023, when Dallas police responded to a major disturbance call in the 3100 block of North Harwood near Ivan Street, according to The Dallas Morning News. Miller was accused of assaulting a pregnant woman with whom he had a long-term relationship, per the same account. He left the location before officers arrived and later turned himself in to Glenn Heights police on November 30, 2023, posting a $5,000 bond before being released from DeSoto Regional Jail, the outlet reports.
What the Arrest Affidavit Describes
According to the arrest affidavit cited by the Dallas News report, Miller became agitated after the woman slammed a door during an argument over travel plans, then yelled at her to get out of their apartment. The affidavit states Miller shoved and pushed the woman, who tried to retrieve her laptop and phones before leaving; she reportedly told him, “Stop, I'm pregnant,” during the encounter. A separate Dallas Police Department affidavit, detailed by the Associated Press, documented minor abrasions on the victim's left hand along with bruising to her neck, abdomen, and left bicep, and noted that officers received a photograph of a positive pregnancy test and text messages discussing a due date.
Texas law classifies assaulting a pregnant person as a third-degree felony, which carries two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, per the Dallas News report. Miller disputed the allegations in December 2023, saying he had never committed the alleged acts against his girlfriend and that everything was “blown out of proportion” and “a crazy day.”
Case Closed Without Charges, but the NFL Still Acted
By July 2024, Miller and his legal representatives announced that the Dallas County District Attorney's Office had not filed formal criminal charges, according to the Associated Press. Miller said no charges were ever filed and considered the case closed, telling reporters he could now move forward and focus solely on football.
Yet the absence of criminal charges did not shield Miller from league discipline. The NFL Personal Conduct Policy explicitly grants the commissioner authority to discipline players for off-field behavior regardless of whether law enforcement investigations lead to charges, convictions, or prosecutions, as outlined by the policy itself and reported by Villanova University's sports law journal. Under Article 46 of the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league operates with its own investigative mandate and a lower burden of proof than a criminal court, allowing Commissioner Roger Goodell's office to act independently of the Dallas County outcome.
The NFL officially suspended Miller for four games without pay on October 1, 2024, for violating the league's personal conduct policy, according to NBC Sports. The ban cost him Buffalo's Week 5 through Week 8 games against the Houston Texans, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, and Seattle Seahawks, and he was reinstated on October 28, 2024. That penalty fell below the policy's typical six-game baseline for first-time domestic violence or assault violations, which the league established in 2014 after public scrutiny over its handling of domestic abuse cases, per TMJ4. The league did not reveal the specific reasoning behind the four-game figure at the time.
A Pattern of Investigations Without Charges
The Dallas case was not the first time law enforcement had looked into domestic allegations against Miller without pursuing charges. In January 2021, police in Parker, Colorado, investigated domestic violence allegations involving Miller and his former fiancée, but the Douglas County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges after the woman publicly stated no physical violence had occurred, according to Sports Illustrated. Miller was playing for the Denver Broncos at the time.
Miller's disciplinary history with the league predates either of those investigations. In September 2013, the NFL suspended him for six games while he was with Denver after an investigation determined he attempted to manipulate the league's drug-testing system in collaboration with a urine collector, who was later fired by the drug-testing agency, per CBS Colorado.
From Buffalo's Books to a Return Home
Miller's on-field standing remained elite even as the off-field questions accumulated. At the time of his 2024 suspension, he was the NFL's active leader in career sacks with 126.5, tying him with Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas for 17th on the all-time career sacks list, according to the Associated Press.
Financially, Buffalo had already restructured his six-year, $120 million contract in March 2024, cutting his base salary from $17.145 million to $1.5 million with performance incentives to free up $8.65 million in salary cap space, per Heavy Sports. The Bills ultimately released him in March 2025 to save $8.4 million in cap space, ending his three-season tenure in Buffalo, the Associated Press reported.
Now, Miller has signed with the Dallas Cowboys in North Texas, returning to the region where he starred at DeSoto High School and where the 2023 allegation and its unresolved aftermath first unfolded, according to the Dallas News report. Hoodline previously covered the initial arrest warrant and the Bills' decision to keep Miller on the field while the case played out, and the fresh signing has renewed attention on both his statistical legacy and the questions that were never settled in court.
