Ravens Adding QB Rush

Cooper Rush, a professional in every sense of the word, has been a solid backup quarterback for Dak Prescott’s Dallas Cowboys for eight seasons (2017-24), and now his time in Dallas has come to a close. Rush’s next move in his NFL career will be to back up a signal caller in the AFC North, also known as the Black and Blue Division.

Rush is inking a two-year deal worth up to $12.2 million, including $4.2 million guaranteed, to join the Baltimore Ravens and back up two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson on Sunday, according to ESPN. Equity Sports, Rush’s representation, confirmed the deal.

He initially signed with ‘America’s Team’, the Cowboys back in 2017 as an undrafted free agent out of Central Michigan and served as Prescott’s backup for three seasons. Upon Mike McCarthy’s arrival as head coach in 2020 after a year off, the Cowboys signed veteran Andy Dalton and Rush was subsequently released. He came back home and rejoined the Cowboys after a cup of coffee with their NFC East rival New York Giants following Prescott’s season-ending dislocated and fractured right ankle.

Rush, 31 years-of-age, had spent, for all intent and purposes, his entire career with the Cowboys except for the short stint with the Giants. He’ has appeared in 38 games with 14 starts. The Cowboys notably went 4-1 with Rush under center for a five-game stretch in 2022. The club was .500, 4-4 with him as a starter in 2024.

There must be a reason why Rush would finally decide to walk away from Dallas after all these years? One reason could be the way he was mistreated and disrespected by owner/general Jerry Jones and the Cowboys at the end of the 2024 campaign. After he started every game for Dallas following Prescott’s season-ending hamstring tear in Week 9 at the Atlanta Falcons, the team started former No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance in Week 18, which coincidentally prevented him from hitting his full play time incentive clause in his contract. Rush missed out on an additional $250,000 because of the decision.

As stated earlier, the Cowboys went 4-4 in Rush’s eight starts from Weeks 10-17, and he completed 61.3% of his passes while averaging 209.6 passing yards per game. Rush’s 11-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio from Weeks 10-17 was tied for 17th in the league with 2024 MVP winner Josh Allen, but his passer rating in that stretch was just 86.6, 25th among the league’s 32 qualified quarterbacks in that span.

After juggling between Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley and Josh Johnson as backups to Jackson in years past, Baltimore now has a stable backup with recent starting experience. Prescott and journeyman Will Grier are now the only quarterbacks on the Cowboys’ roster after Rush’s exit and with Lance remaining a free agent. This now increases the odds Dallas uses one of their 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft on a quarterback to develop behind and to back up Prescott, who will be 32 years old at the start of the 2025 season in September.