Cowboys Trade for Their New Backup QB

On April 3rd, 2025, the Dallas Cowboys traded for former Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton. The Cowboys are sending a fifth-round pick in return for Milton and a seventh-round pick. Cowboys executive Stephen Jones had already told reporters that the team was working on a trade. The 25-year-old, who just finished his first season in the NFL, has found a new home already.

Milton was drafted 193rd overall in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft to be a backup to top-three pick Drake Maye. Milton, as a prospect, was a high-upside player with elite arm talent and athleticism. The Tennessee product had accuracy concerns and did not elevate his team in key moments in the 2023 season, which allowed him to slip in the draft despite his special athletic ability. Milton got a chance to start in the regular season when the Patriots took starters out of their Week 18 game vs. the Buffalo Bills. Milton went 22-29 passing along with 260 total yards and two touchdowns. Immediately after this performance, teams would take notice as a potential high-upside player to try and acquire.

The Cowboys made a similar move last year when they traded for former 49ers top-five pick Trey Lance, who is currently a free agent. This shows the Cowboys are certainly in the market for a developmental quarterback to sit and learn behind Dak Prescott. While this move shouldn’t worry Dak Prescott as a potential replacement, the fact that the Cowboys were willing to send draft capital for a young player instead of keeping a veteran presence like Cooper Rush in the building could be an early sign of preparing for life without Dak Prescott in the years ahead, but it is too early to say that. Prescott has missed 26 games in the last five seasons, and at the very least, Milton is high-upside injury insurance for the team.