Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott has played nine seasons in the NFL. For the last eight of those seasons, he has been supported by one backup quarterback, Cooper Rush. An undrafted free agent signed by Dallas out of Central Michigan in 2017, Rush has started just 12 games in his career â but eight of them came last season when Prescott went down with a serious hamstring injury.
In his eight starts, the Cowboys won four and lost four but Rush, completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 1,844 yards and 12 touchdowns, did well enough to earn himself a two-year, $12.2 million contract to back up Lamar Jackson for the Baltimore Ravens.
Cowboys Trade For Possible Next Backup
In April, the Cowboys traded a fifth-round draft pick to the New England Patriots to get a potential replacement for Rush in former Tennessee Volunteers starter Joe Milton III, who was taken by the Patriots with the 193rd overall pick in 2024.
The pick was a surprise to most NFL observers, because the Patriots had already used the No. 3 overall pick in the draft to take North Carolina’s Drake Maye, who was clearly seen as New England’s quarterback of the future.
But Milton simply had “too much talent” to let get away, New England executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf later explained.
The Joe Milton Experience Hits Dallas
There is no question that Milton’s physical gifts, particularly his arm strength, are at a level rarely seen in the NFL. But his seemingly shaky grip on the fundamentals of playing the quarterback position creates a combination that often described with the phrase, “The Joe Milton Experience.”
As he mulled his decision between Milton and seven-year journeyman Will Grier â who has not played an official NFL snap since 2019 â for the No. 2 quarterback spot behind Prescott, who appears to be recovered from his hamstring malady, Dallas coach Brian Schottenheimer named Milton the starter in all three preseason contests.
Milton Predicted to Win the Job
In those three games, Milton completed 36 of 65 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions. And apparently that was good enough.
As of Sunday evening, with just fewer than 50 hours to go before NFL teams must announce their final 53-man rosters, Schottenheimer had not made his final call on which backup QB would get the nod as Prescott’s backup â or at least he had not announced it yet.
But according to a projection by Cowboys insider Jon Machota of The Athletic, Milton will get the job.
Friday’s Performance Deciding Factor
The deciding factor was Milton’s performance in the preseason finale, Friday night against the Atlanta Falcons, Machota wrote.
“Milton didnât have a great preseason. But Friday was clearly his best of the three games,” according to the Athletic scribe. “Is he ready to be Prescottâs backup? Probably not. But having $240 million invested in Prescott, Jerry Jones is unlikely to spend much more on the position group. Also, look for Dallas to find a way to get Will Grier back on the roster.”
Writer Jerry Trotta of The Landry Hat agreed, noting that Schottenheimer removed Milton from Friday’s game midway through the third quarter.
“If Milton was playing for the backup job on Friday, he all but secured it,” Trotta wrote. “Sure, it was against second- and third-stringers, but he played on time and within the offense. Even if heâs not fully ready for regular-season action, he showed enough to earn those reps anyway.”
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