By Dianna Russini, Chad Graff and Saad Yousuf
In a decision that adds intrigue and depth behind Dak Prescott, the Dallas cowboys acquired the second-year quarter of the new year Joe Milton III of the New England Patriots, said a league source.
Dallas sends a choice of fifth round in New England in exchange for Milton and a seventh round.
The Patriots chose Milton in the sixth round of the draft last year and he spent most of the season as a quarter-back third string, but he played the last match of the season, when the Patriots needed a defeat to guarantee the choice n ° 1. Instead, Milton played well, finishing 22 of the 29 passes for 241 yards and a touch A victory against the Buffalo Bills.
Milton, 25, adds a depth table of cowboys upside down which only included Prescott and Journeyman Will Grier before the move. This is another decision for Dallas to take a shot on a quarter-back with a high ceiling after exchanging for Trey launched in 2023 and having had it for two seasons.
For patriots, it is a way to maximize an asset that they did not plan to use. Drake Maye is an undoubtedly starting quarter of the team and they added the veteran of the companion Joshua Dobbs as a backup. Milton is fortunate to be a quarter 2 of a team and to work behind a veteran, two things that would not have happened with the Patriots.
What it means for cowboys
The cowboys have been on the market for a quarter-backing since Cooper Rush signed a two-year agreement with the Baltimore Ravens in the Free Agency. Rush had been the main backup in Dallas in the past four years and a backup to some extent with Cowboys since 2017.
In Florida League meetings earlier this week, the Cowboys executive vice-president Stephen Jones said that the team was still planning to tinker with the “business point of view” list and add a quarter-backing was on the table. Milton’s acquisition checks the two boxes.
This is the second time in three years that the cowboys exchanged a young rescue quarter after having acquired launched in August 2023. Lance was a very top five choice which cost a fourth round choice for the cowboys and came to the team when there was a mystery with the contractual situation of Prescott. Milton is a choice of end of the round that comes to Dallas less than a year after Prescott signed a four -year extension.
There is not much intrigue other than the fact that cowboys needed another backup option.
The backup quarter has been important for Dallas in recent years. In 2020, Prescott broke his ankle at the start of the season and missed the rest of the campaign. The cowboys needed Rush to win a great game at prospective hours against the Vikings of Minnesota in 2021, then turned to rush in 2022 for five departures at the start of the season while Prescott faced an injury. Last year, Prescott fell for the season in November with an injury to the hamstrings.
Milton will compete with Grier for the primary backup point. The acquisition of Milton does not mean that the cowboys will not choose a quarter in the draft later this month if it has the possibility of obtaining a player with great value, but that softened the need for this position. – Saad Yousuf, Cowboys Beat writer
What it means for patriots
He never had meaning for the Patriots to keep Milton because it was clear that it would be their QB n ° 3 after having signed Dobbs. It is a way to add capital before an important project, which is essential to relaunch this reconstruction.
The Patriots could have awaited the training camp to move Milton, hoping that impressive performance of Milton’s pre-season, then, perhaps, some injuries elsewhere could stimulate its commercial value. But the imminent draft also has an opportunity for teams such as cowboys to improve their quarter depth, so that the PATS have taken precedence now.
The Pats now have two quarters on their depth board, so it would not be a shock if they again took a leaflet at the end of the round on a potential backup or chased a free agent not drafted in high priority. – Chad Graff, Patriots Beat Writer
(Photo: Fred Kfoury III / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
