The Dallas Cowboys might have an extra quarterback at their rookie minicamp and mandatory minicamp if things continue down this path.
The Cowboys brought Dallas native and former SMU quarterback Preston Stone in to work out for their Local Pro Day after he finished his career with 1 final season at Northwestern in 2025.
Preston was a 4-star recruit out of Dallas Parish Episcopal School and played 4 seasons at SMU before entering the transfer portal.
“Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone worked out at Cowboys local Pro Day,” NFL reporter Aaron Wilson wrote on his official X account on Saturday. “Continued to build on success at Northwestern and SMU, starting for both schools, passing for 6,204 career yards, 49 touchdowns. Considered Day 3 draft prospect, arrow up.”
Stone, 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds, capped his 1 season at Northwestern by leading his team to a 34-7 win over Central Michigan in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, with Stone throwing for 226 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions.
In 2023, Stone led SMU to a 10-2 record in 12 starts with 3,197 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions to go with 198 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.
Another Option for Preston Stone: Play in CFL
The 24-year-old Stone will likely end up looking for a UDFA deal in the NFL, but if he doesn’t catch on, he has another pretty intriguing option awaiting him in the Canadian Football League, where the Calgary Stampeders have already put him on their negotiations list.
From 3 Down Nation: “CFL teams can claim the rights to up to 45 players via the negotiation list on a first-come, first-served basis, provided that they are not eligible for the Canadian or Global Drafts, and have never played in the league before. These players can be added, traded, or removed from the list at any time.”
Stone comes from a football family. One of his brothers, Parker Stone, was a wide receiver at SMU, and another 1 of his brothers, Lindell Stone, was a quarterback at Virginia.
Cowboys Have Competition for Backup Quarterback
The Cowboys have the NFL’s highest-paid player at starting quarterback with Dak Prescott, but behind him there’s what seems like an open competition.
The 2 leading candidates to be Prescott’s backup are the backup from 2025, Joe Milton, and former Washington Commanders starting quarterback Sam Howell.
“Source: QB Sam Howell to the Cowboys on a one-year deal,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on his official X account on March 10.
Howell spent the 2025 season as a backup quarterback on the Philadelphia Eagles. He played 2 seasons for the Commanders in 2022 and 2023, starting all 17 games in 2023.
In 2023, Howell had one of the worst seasons for a starting NFL quarterback in recent memory, going 4-13 as led the NFL with 21 interceptions and 65 sacks taken for negative-449 yards.
“Howell made his first start vs. Dallas in 2022 with Washington,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote. “Cowboys now have four QBs in Dak Prescott, Joe Milton III, Will Grier and Howell.”
Howell was traded from the Commanders to the Seattle Seahawks in March 2024 and from the Seahawks to the Vikings in March 2025 before being traded from the Vikings to the Eagles in July 2025.
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