Trade Pitch Sees Browns Go For Joe Milton III, Cowboys New Viral QB Sensation

One of the more bizarre stories of the 2025 NFL offseason is the Cleveland Browns’ crowded quarterback room. In fact, it seems to be standing room only in there, with no fewer than five signal callers vying for position and none yet emerging as a clear-cut candidate for the starting job.

But could Cleveland add to their quarterback confusion by trading for yet another one, this one an unlikely target, but nonetheless the most athletically gifted, highest upside possibility of the bunch?

The possibility seems far fetched, but acquiring 25-year-old Joe Milton is a move that the Browns have reportedly considered before — albeit when “Bazooka Joe,” who earned the nickname with his amazing ability to throw the football almost the entire length of the field, was with the New England Patriots.

In April, the Patriots traded Milton to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round pick.

Browns Have 5 QBs With No Clear Starter

In fact, the Browns already had three quarterbacks on the roster when they went ahead and drafted two more — Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel in the third round and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in the fifth.

The two rookies joined a crew that already included 40-year-old Joe Flacco, 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft bust Kenny Pickett, and injured Deshaun Watson who in addition to rehabbing from an Achilles injury is beset by contractual issues and off-field controversies.

Why would the Browns make a deal for Milton, whose athletic abilities have repeatedly caused him to go viral in videos putting his various astounding physical feats on display?

In a widely-viewed June 4 trade proposal, Heavy.com sportswriter Max Dible outlined his idea for the Browns to trade Sanders to the Indianapolis Colts for their 2023 first round draft pick Anthony Richardson.

But rather than take on the remaining two years of Richardson’s four-year, $34 million contract, for a player who has played just 15 games in two seasons, winning eight, it may make more sense to flip Sanders for the high-upside Milton whose contract pays him just $3.2 million over the next three years.

Or — make another trade with Sanders and give up a Day Three draft asset for Milton.

High Upside Milton Expendable For Cowboys

Milton has only one NFL game under his belt — albeit one in which he completed 76 percent of his passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, as well as flinging a 61.7 mph pass into the end zone (though the apparent TD was negated by a penalty), the second-fastest pass ever recorded in the NFL.

But that, and the impression that Milton has made in Dallas OTA practices, in which he reportedly emerged as a potential “secret weapon” for the Cowboys, would seem to make Milton an extremely economical trade target who would have an excellent chance of outpacing Pickett, the rookie Gabriel and the aging Flacco for the eventual starter’s role.

For that matter, he may not even need to beat out Pickett if the Browns traded for Milton. According to reports out of Browns training camp, Pickett is already struggling and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes he may not stay with Cleveland through mandatory minicamp.

Though Milton has been predicted to “make noise” in Cowboys’ minicamp this week, that may only make him more tradeable — and the reality in Dallas is that he remains behind backup Will Grier on the QB depth chart, making Milton essentially expendable.