The Dallas Cowboys have acquired second-year quarterback prospect Joe Milton from the Patriots. For the cost of swapping a fifth-round pick for a seventh in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, Dallas adds an intriguing new passer to its pipeline. What does Milton’s arrival mean for the Cowboys’ current QBs and how Dallas may approach the position in the draft and the remainder of free agency?
Milton joins Dak Prescott and Will Grier on a depth chart that was just waiting for some new names before training camp. We knew Dallas would add at least one more QB, likely either during or after the draft. But they’ve struck early by acquiring Milton, a sixth-round pick by New England last year.
Milton’s profile rose in the Patriots’ regular-season finale, playing most of the game after Drake Maye stayed in for just one drive. He went 22-of-29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. Considered a raw athlete who’d need lots of technical development when drafted, Milton flashed enough in that Week 18 game to make some think he could be ahead of schedule.
For Prescott, this doesn’t change much at all. He spent the last two seasons with Trey Lance, a former third-overall pick, hanging around. Even if Dallas has hopes for Milton as an eventual starting QB, it isn’t now. Prescott will continue to operate as the starter and with no more sense of threat to his status than at any other point since 2017.
This should be of greater concern to Grier. The Cowboys already discarded him once before, back in 2023 for Cooper Rush and Lance. But with Rush having signed elsewhere this offseason, Grier may now move into that role in the QB room as an experienced assistant to Prescott. The same dynamic of the last two years with Rush and Lance behind Prescott may now move to Grier and Milton: the veteran and the developmental prospect. But if Milton earns enough trust by final cuts, Dallas could decide to just keep two QBs on the official roster and leave Grier on the practice squad.
What about other free agents? We recently looked at some veteran QBs the Cowboys could consider, and this move doesn’t necessarily take them out of the market. If Dallas did add another free agent, it would likely be a guy they feel is an upgrade over Grier for experience. The Milton acquisition doesn’t really change anything there.
As for the draft, Dallas now has far more leverage to wait and see what falls to them. They may be out completely if they see Milton as their QB pick of this class, which is entirely reasonable. But let’s say Jaxson Dart falls to the third round or Quinn Ewers is there in the fifth. The Cowboys could still consider those moves, building up their pipeline even more. Given the minimal amount sacrificed to acquire Milton, Dallas can freely consider other assets without feeling wasteful.
The beauty of this Joe Milton trade is in its minimal investment and the flexibility Dallas preserves. They didn’t even really give up a pick, just moved it down two rounds. Milton arrives as a project with rising perceived upside but not entitled to anything, allowing the Cowboys to work with him while freely exploring any other options they like.
