The Dallas Cowboys know that the 2025 season will be under a microscope. If not for injuries, fans would have expected Dallas to compete for a Super Bowl in 2024. However, Dak Prescott missing half the season, and going 3-5 in the eight games he did appear in didn’t give the fan base much confidence.
Now one of their former starters got a massive pay day with an AFC contender.
Breaking: Former Cowboys Starter Lands Massive Pay Day With New Team
For eight seasons (2017-24), Cooper Rush was Dak Prescott’s backup quarterback. That is no longer the case:
Rush is signing a two-year contract worth up to $12.2 million, including $4.2 million guaranteed, to join the Baltimore Ravens and back up two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson on Sunday, per ESPN. Equity Sports, Rush’s agency, confirmed the deal.
Why would Rush finally walk away from Dallas after all the years? One reason could be the way he was perhaps disrespected by the Cowboys at the end of the 2024 season.
After he started every game for Dallas following Prescott’s season-ending hamstring tear in Week 9 at the Atlanta Falcons, the team started Trey Lance in Week 18, which oh so coincidentally prevented him from hitting his full play time incentive clause in his contract. Rush missed out on an additional $250,000 as a result of the decision.
During Rush’s eight starts for the Cowboys between Weeks 10-17, he completed 61.3% of his passes while averaging 209.6 passing yards per game. Despite Rush’s 11-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio from Weeks 10-17, he ranked 25th among the league’s 32 qualified quarterbacks in passer rating during that stretch.
Previously, Tyler Huntley and Josh Johnson were Baltimore’s backups to Jackson. Since Rush left and Lance remains a free agent, Prescott and journeyman Will Grier are the only quarterbacks on the Cowboys’ roster. Prescott, 32 years old by the start of the 2025 season, is likely to be backed up by one of Dallas’ 10 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
