One of the truly curious things to watch with the Dallas Cowboys this offseason has been the mental gymnastics fans and media have gone through to try and trick themselves into thinking Joe Milton is a competent quarterback.
The genesis of this line of thinking seems to come from 2 things — one super duper viral video of Milton firing off an 85-yard pass at a football camp and a decent game against the Buffalo Bills backups in the meaningless 2024 regular season finale.
From that, there have been some amazing leaps made — mostly centered around Milton being an acceptable substitute for Dak Prescott, or, for the true conspiracy theorists Milton might be waiting to take over for Prescott if he falters. Which is a joke.
The Cowboy may have already given up too much for Milton after they traded a 2025 fifth round pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for him and a 2025 seventh round pick.
While giving up a fifth round pick for Milton seems like a high price — even with the seventh round pick in return — even that and Milton’s $960,000 salary for 2025 don’t make him a guarantee to be Prescott’s backup quarterback or even a lock to make the 53-man roster.
Barring catastrophe, Milton won’t drop below the emergency third quarterback, but the Cowboys can still make a move that would help them stay afloat if Prescott goes down for a few weeks and get a massive upgrade at backup quarterback with free agent and former Pro Bowler Tyler Huntley.
Cowboys Could Upgrade at QB2 With Tyler Huntley
Huntley has a 5-9 record over 14 starts as a backup for the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins over the last 5 seasons — against Milton’s one start for the Patriots in a meaningless game in 2024.
Huntley went 2-3 as the starter for the Dolphins in 2024 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2022 filling in for 2-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson on the Ravens.
“As a member of the Baltimore Ravens, Tyler Huntley was never going to dethrone Lamar Jackson,” Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski wrote on July 3. “He didn’t receive a fair shot with the Cleveland Browns because their investment in Deshaun Watson crippled their decision-making process. He joined the Miami Dolphins as QB3 last season before being thrust into the lineup. The team finished 2-3 with Huntley as the starter … Huntley provides better dual-threat capabilities that can become part of the designed run game. If a starting quarterback suffers a short-term injury, he can keep the ship afloat.”
Milton Captured Fans Imaginations Since Trade
It’s probably a mix of the frustration with Prescott and frustration with the Cowboys going 7-10 in 2024 that’s led to the wild speculation about Milton’s future with the franchise.
This is where everyone needs a reality check. In 6 seasons of college football at Michigan and Tennessee, Milton was only a full time starter one year, his final season in 2023 with the Volunteers. Even then, Milton was pretty pedestrian, throwing for 2,769 yards, 20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions while rushing for 292 yards and 6 touchdowns.
In the end, the Patriots got him in the sixth round (No. 193 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft — the same year they picked a quarterback at No. 3 overall with Drake Maye.
