‘America’s Team’, the Dallas Cowboys have gotten themselves a ‘gun slinger’ as their new backup quarterback.
ESPN’s senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported Thursday that the Cowboys acquired Joe Milton III from the New England Patriots via trade to back up Dak Prescott. The move comes after the previous second-stringer Cooper Rush signed with the Baltimore Ravens earlier this offseason.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic noted the Patriots also packaged a seventh-round pick with Milton to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick.
While Milton has little game experience in the line of fire since entering the NFL as a sixth-round pick in last year’s draft out of the University of Tennessee, he did raise some eyebrows in his one appearance during his rookie season.
He played the majority of the Week 18 season finale against the Buffalo Bills and was efficient completing 22-of-29 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and zero interception while adding 16 additional yards and a touchdown on the ground as a runner.
The Tennessee product led the Patriots to a 23-16 victory in that game just hours before the firing of coach Jarod Mayo, although it was not enough to convince them to keep him on the roster for a second season.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Patriots put Milton on the market after signing veteran Josh Dobbs to be Drake Maye’s backup earlier this offseason. Rapoport went on to say the Cowboys were “the most interested from the outset” of all the potential suitors.
Yet Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports made it clear there were several; interested teams and even a “better offer” that New England turned down “out of respect” for the signal caller.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe backup quarterback role is an essential one in Dallas, as Prescott has dealt with durability concerns at times during his nine-year career. He was limited to five games in 2020, 12 games in 2022 and just eight games this past season.
Prescott’s absence was one of the many reasons why the Cowboys struggled in 2024 on the way to a 7-10 record, which snapped a stretch of three straight years at 12-5.
Prescott, who has missed time in four of the past five seasons because of injury, is coming off surgery to repair a torn hamstring suffered in Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons. His rehab has gone well, but the Cowboys expect to pull back the reins during the offseason program.
“I don’t know the definition of what full participation might mean. Everybody will be smart about it,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday. “For me, he’s every bit under the circumstances, on schedule to get ready in a very prudent way for us to have the year we want to have. I think he’s getting ready to go. He should be there timely, be able to execute individually and in team and what is required for a lot of spring. He should be able to do things within reason as far as risk is concerned in training camp.”
Milton started his collegiate career at the University of Michigan under Jim Harbaugh but saw his career flourish and got far more playing time after transferring to Tennessee. He threw for 2,813 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions to go with 299 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in his final collegiate season in 2023.
His arm strength was recognized as a thing of beauty and immediately stood out as he was preparing for the NFL draft, and he looked like someone who could comfortably step into a pro-style offense in his limited playing time as a rookie. Now he will look to take the next step of his career on the Cowboys after they executed Thursday’s trade.
