Is Joe Milton next man up for Cowboys?

Inglewood, CA (News4usOnline) – Joe Milton III is No. 2 on the depth chart for the Dallas Cowboys. For most teams, sitting behind a starter is a welcomed reality in the National Football League (NFL). 

Players can sit, watch and learn from the incumbent with little or no fanfare or pressure on them. The Dallas Cowboys are not most teams. Longtime coined as America’s Team, the Cowboys are the Ewings of the NFL, the equivalent of royalty in the league. 

That’s both a blessing and could be an incredible challenge, depending on how one looks at the situation. 

With the departure of the reliable Cooper Rush to the Baltimore Ravens and with no more Trey Lance sightings to behold, the Cowboys had to do something to get somebody qualified to sit, watch and learn from longtime starter Dak Prescott. 

The Cowboys went after and got Milton, a strong-armed second year quarterback from the University of Tennessee. Milton spent his rookie season playing for the New England Patriots but was traded in the offseason to the Cowboys. 

While he possesses a rifle of a right arm, Milton is still rough around the edges and can be a bit erratic at times as he showed in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams. Milton finished the Cowboys’ 31-21 defeat to the Rams with a respectable 17 of 29 passing for 143 yards, but he had a 68.6 rating.

With a bunch of three and outs piling up in the first half, Milton and the Dallas offense went nowhere. Milton relied a lot on his fastball delivery, and misfired on some throws, completing 11 of 18 passes for 64 yards through the first two quarters. Milton has do better, says Dallas head coach Brian Schottenheimer. 

“We need to throw more completions. He knows that,” Schottenheimer said. “I think he had his fastball out today and there’s times that you’ve got to kind of throw a little bit of a change up. He wants the double move in the red zone back. I think that was flow. I think we ran it and we missed that one right before the half.” 

“And then he sailed one a little bit high, but it’s all part of playing to ‘Flo’ [WR Ryan Flournoy). He hit ‘Flo’. I think it was ‘Flo’ maybe on both of them. But part of staying in rhythm and part of me and Joe being on the same page, because I’m the playcaller, is just executing the offense, taking things when it’s not there. When you get moved off the spot, check it down,” he added. 

The pressure to be a Cowboy is real. All that glory and glamour comes with a heavy price. That price is having sustained success, a journey that eventually leads to or can lead to a championship, something the Cowboys have not experienced since 1995.  

That’s three decades ago. Though the Cowboys are Super Bowl champs five times over, that time seems like ions ago. For several decades, the Cowboys were the darlings of the NFL. The popularity of the team benefitted team members on and off the field. But there is also pressure to perform when putting on that uniform. 

With each passing year that the Cowboys are not playing in the Super Bowl or winning it altogether, the pressure of representing America’s Team can be daunting. 

During that stretch, the Cowboys and their fans have seen the likes of Quincy Carter, Tony Romo, Vinny Tesaverde, Andy Dalton, Troy Aikman, Drew Bledsoe, and Dak Prescott, take over the quarterback spot during their respective stints with the team. 

Prescott has two playoff wins under his belt as the starter for the Cowboys. Dallas fans want more. Can Milton push Prescott enough to give the fans and the franchise what they want? That remains to be seen. 

Against the Rams, Milton gave Dallas fans a taste of a couple wow moments to feast on. But he also made a few head-scratching plays as well. His third-quarter interception in the endzone was one of those plays Milton could have done a better job of reading, Schottenheimer said.  
“Yeah, second-and-four, he’s got a check down in front of him,” Schottenheimer remarked. “He’s ultra-competitive. He’s moving left and threw it up there. Now he’s trusting (WR Ryan Flournoy) in that situation to try to make a play. But I think that’s one of the things that when Joe watches, he’ll be like, ‘Yeah, I probably should have taken a check down. I got moved off the launch point.’ And again, that’s why he needs to play. I do think he settled down. I think he found his rhythm, started using his legs a little bit better. Terrific talent and every rep he gets is going to help him become a great pro.” 

Featured Image: Inglewood, CA – Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III (10) looks downfield for an open receiver during an NFL preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams on Aug. 9, 2025. The game was played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Photo credit: Mark Hammond/News4usOnline