By all accounts, the Patriots did right by quarterback Joe Milton this offseason, on a number of levels. For one thing, the team did not need to trade him at all. The Patriots could have held onto Milton through training camp, let him play a bit in the preseason games, drive up his trade value and then waited until August 31 to send him to the highest bidder. That would have hurt Milton in terms of learning a new team’s system, but it would have been the best path to get value for the 2024 sixth-rounder.
Considering it was Milton’s Week 17 win that cost the Patriots the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, few would blame New England for taking that tack.
But the Patriots sent Milton to Dallas, taking a lesser return than they would have gotten in order to put him in a more favorable situation, with a 32-year-old quarterback, Dak Prescott, who has had injury trouble and might not be in place much longer. Milton is currently engaged in a battle to be QB2 behind Prescott, with former Patriots quarterback Will Grier as his competition.
Joe Milton Prefers Cowboys Offense
Still, in his brief time with the Cowboys, Milton has taken potshots at the Patriots on multiple occasions. This week, while praising Prescott and the mentorship he’s gotten, Milton tossed some shade New England’s way.
“At the Patriots, it was more everybody telling everybody what they’re doing based off the play, how long the play call was, the play call’s longer,” Milton said via the Cowboys site. “Over here, it pretty much goes back to my high school and college days, one word is a whole concept. I think learning the offense early like that, and coming in new to an offense, it’s pretty good to have that type of system.”
Now, no one is saying that the Patriots offense was sophisticated under last year’s coordinator, Alex Van Pelt, but it is worth pointing out that Milton struggled to run the offense in college at Tennessee, and his propensity for mental errors was the major reason he did not get drafted until Round 6.
Patriots Are ‘Different’ From Cowboys
Milton praised Prescott and took a more direct shot at the Patriots. Again, he was criticizing a team that had a different coaching staff last year but said, “Dak is a great leader … All respect to him. He literally goes out of his way to help me, no matter if the coach is talking in the meeting, he literally goes out of his way to help …”
“I’ve been in another building. I know how that goes. It’s just very different over here.”
Patriots Trade Credited to Joe Milton and His Agent
Milton also addressed the trade that brought him to Dallas which, again, was one that Patriots did not need to make. New England sought to put him into a good situation for his development, though he did not give them much credit for that.
Asked if he had been after a fresh start after his rookie year, Milton said, “Definitely, I preferred it. That was something me and my team put together. They were able to get it done, I really didn’t have to do much or say much. So just shout out to my agent, that’s pretty much it.”
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