FRISCO - This week, longtime Dallas Cowboys backup Cooper Rush signed a contract so handsome (two years, $12.2 million) that it surprised even him.
And that's going to be a change around here.
Whenever the Cowboys and starting quarterback Dak Prescott have bumped into major injury obstacles over the last few seasons, Rush has often stepped in as the "elite bus driver.''
Now Rush is a Baltimore Ravens backup to Lamar Jackson.
And Dallas is searching for a substitute ... "elite" or otherwise.
After an emotional goodbye to a Cowboys veteran, the search now begins for the next Prescott backup. The position - which to our Mike Fisher has always been about "the backup QB being the 12th starter'' - has morphed into an even more important must-have given Prescott's latest injury history.
So where will Dallas turn?
Fish notes that he believes Will Grier, the only other quarterback signed to the roster, is someone this organization has some faith in as a No. 2. With Grier making $1.1 million? If they are right about him, that's a huge positive.
We also know Dallas wants to use this NFL Draft to grab what COO Stephen Jones has called a "developmental'' quarterback, and Fish broke the story of the Cowboys "targeting'' University of Texas QB Quinn Ewers in that way.
But what about one more idea?
We heard from Stephen that Trey Lance’s Dallas career is more or less over. But upon review ... why must it be?
Fish offers up 3 thoughts on the matter ...
1 - Late last year, Dallas actually made a contract extension offer to third-stringer Lance. That means the Cowboys - even after having infamously traded that fourth-round pick to the 49ers to get a QB who pretty much never came out of mothballs here - that Dallas still likes him on some level.
2 - Maybe Lance turned that down in a "bet on himself'' look at 2025 NFL free agency. But as we write this, he seemingly hasn’t received any interest.
Soon enough, he might need a job. Why not "bet on himself'' in a return to Dallas to battle Grier for the No. 2 job?
3 - At 24 years old, Lance’s age means he can still be called "developmental.'' And at the right (low) price? His athleticism keeps his ceiling at a tempting to level gamble on.
Maybe Dallas finds a QB2 in the NFL Draft. That would be grand. But the time invested in Lance already exists ... and the money invested in Lance, in this scenario, would be nothing.
Does Lance solve any "urgency'' here? Is he to be trusted as "The 12th Starter''? Fish isn't promising that. But given that for the Cowboys and Lance it's all "ceiling'' now, with zero risk? Fish - assuming there isn't some nasty unseen bridge that's been burned - sees a fit.
Let's see if Dallas sees the same.
