At age 25, the Dallas Cowboys newest quarterback is a bit older than average for second-year signal-caller with aspirations to become a starter in the NFL. But Joe Milton III has always had his own way of doing things.
Drafted in the sixth round in 2025 by the New England Patriots, Milton’s quarterbacking skills coming out the Tennessee Volunteers program were not held in high regard by pro scouts. But his athletic skills were never in question and have even been described as “freakish,” with his ability to casually toss a football 85 yards in the air.
Milton was held in “inactive” status by the Patriots last season — until Week 18 when he took the field against the Buffalo Bills — and among other eye-grabbing feats unleashed a 61.7mph pass into the end zone, the second-fastest ever recorded in the NFL.
Bills Game One of ‘Best Days’ of Milton’s Life
Milton now says that the one game against the Bills, meaningless though it was for either team in the standings, was “probably one of the best days of my life.”
The Patriots won the game 23-16 thanks to Milton’s stunning NFL debut. The win raised the Patriots record to 4-13, angering the team’s fans because it dropped New England from he No. 1 overall draft pick position to No. 4.
After his outing against the Bills, though he was facing mostly reserve Buffalo defenders, Milton became a popular subject of trade rumors. Sure enough, on April 3, the Patriots sent Milton to Dallas for a fifth-round draft pick.
Milton, moving into the second year of his $4.2 million rookie contract, is now adapting to the Cowboys offensive system, which in an interview with The Athletic he described as more “explosive” than New England’s and therefore more to his liking.
He also revealed his unusual way of learning the Dallas playbook — recruiting his girlfriend as his teaching assistant.
Milton’s Unique Method of Learning New Offense
“The traditional dry-erase board doesn’t work for him. He prefers a piece of tape and poker chips. The tape is the line of scrimmage and the poker chips have letters written on them to symbolize the different skill position players. He prefers moving the chips over having to erase the board,” wrote Athletic scribe Jon Machota.
“His girlfriend has the script. She calls out a play. Milton repeats it back. He then goes to his chips and lines them up in the formation. The plan is to do that every day during the month between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp,” Machota described.
Coach Brian Schottenheimer praised the way, despite his unusual learning methods, Milton had integrated with starter Dak Prescott and backup Will Grier — with whom Milton will compete for the second spot — in the Cowboys’ quarterback room.
“It is something you talk about, the mixing and matching and how it looks. I’ve heard other stories where some rooms didn’t get along great and that’s never a good thing,” the first-year-coach told The Athletic. “But we don’t have that here. We have a great room. With Dak, Joe and Will, it’s been awesome.”
Milton said he was surprised to be traded by the Patriots, but he called landing in Dallas “a blessing.”
