Joe Milton is back on the Cowboys’ practice squad, but the way he got there left him stunned.
Dallas initially carried two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster because the battle for the backup job between Milton and Sam Howell was that tight. Then the roster math changed. After the surprise cut of Jaydon Blue, the Cowboys needed room for a third running back and waived Milton to make space for Emari Demercado.
“We felt like carrying two quarterbacks was the best way for us to strengthen our roster," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said the day after Milton was waived, per The Athletic's Jon Machota.
Milton said he did not see the move coming.
“It was shocking. But it’s life. You got to be able to live with it and deliver blows back when it’s time," Milton said, per Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Even after that, he said leaving Dallas for good was only a partial thought.
“Somewhat, but not really," Milton said when asked if it was a hard decision to return to Dallas. "I have a lot of relationships here and guys I trust with my development.”
What hasn’t changed is the confidence.
“I’m still the best quarterback in my eyes," he said. "It is what it is. It’s something you got to live with and take to the chin.”
When asked whether there was anything he would have done differently in the preseason, Milton kept it simple.
“Nothing. I don’t feel like I’d change nothing," Milton said. "Everything happens for a reason, right?”
The quarterback competition itself was a real tug-of-war. Schottenheimer described Howell as the slightly more consistent option heading into the preseason, but Milton was the better quarterback through the first two exhibition games and showed real growth.
That changed late. Howell outplayed Milton in the preseason finale, while Milton started to look like the player the Cowboys had seen in 2025.
“It’s neck and neck and love both of those guys," Schotty said of Howell and Milton after preseason Week 3.
Jerry Jones even suggested the team might be able to keep both.
“That's one that we may just split the difference and have two backup quarterbacks here," Jerry Jones said.
So the cut itself wasn’t the only surprise. Dallas making the move roughly an hour after Schottenheimer said the QB2 call still wasn’t settled was the part that really landed hard.
"That's not completely settled, and we need to work through that. We're constantly ripping [their] film. We're not ready to make that decision," Schotty said when asked about keeping both quarterbacks.
In the end, Howell’s experience likely tipped the scales. Milton has never started an NFL game and has only 53 career passes. Howell brings 18 starts and 645 career passes, which gives Dallas a more proven option if Dak Prescott gets hurt.
For a Cowboys team trying to win now, that kind of reliability matters.
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