The Dallas Cowboys’ backup quarterback battle has a resolution, and it did not go the way most expected just 48 hours ago. Dallas waived Joe Milton III on Monday, clearing the way for Sam Howell to serve as Dak Prescott’s primary backup after a preseason competition that coach Brian Schottenheimer called “neck and neck” right up until cutdown day.
Milton, a third-year quarterback out of Tennessee, arrived in Dallas via an April 2025 trade with the New England Patriots and spent last season learning behind Prescott, appearing in four games and completing 15 of 24 passes for 183 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He entered this summer as the perceived favorite for the QB2 job, and for a stretch of training camp and the preseason, he looked the part.
A Strong Camp Unravels in the Preseason Finale
Over the Cowboys’ first two preseason games, Milton was sharp, completing 21 of 28 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. That efficiency put him ahead of Howell in the eyes of many observers heading into the preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints on August 28. But the finale flipped the script. Milton got the start and struggled, going 8-of-15 for 92 yards with no touchdowns and a 72.1 passer rating in a half where Dallas managed just 151 total yards. Howell relieved him in the second half and was dramatically better, completing 12 of 18 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns for a 130.6 rating while rallying the Cowboys from a 24-9 deficit to tie the game 24-24, capped by a Howell rushing score on the two-point conversion. New Orleans won 27-24 on a late field goal, but Howell had made his case in the biggest way possible.
Afterward, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones even floated the idea of carrying two backup quarterbacks rather than picking a winner outright, calling it “the easy way to do it.” When Dallas trimmed its roster to 53 players on August 30, it did exactly that, keeping Prescott, Milton and Howell all on the roster. The competition, it seemed, would carry into the regular season.
The Move That Changed Everything
That plan lasted less than 24 hours. On Monday, the Cowboys waived Milton to make room for running back Emari Demercado, whom Dallas claimed off waivers. The corresponding roster move left Prescott and Howell as the only two quarterbacks on Dallas’ active roster, effectively handing Howell the backup job he’d been fighting Milton for all summer. Howell, who signed a one-year deal worth $2.5 million guaranteed as a free agent this offseason, is now positioned to be the first quarterback off the bench if anything happens to Prescott in 2026.
Milton is not necessarily gone for good. If he clears waivers, as expected given the crowded quarterback carousel across the league this time of year, the Cowboys could bring him back on the practice squad, preserving some depth behind the top two while keeping him away from the 53-man cap. It’s a similar path plenty of bubble quarterbacks have taken in recent years, and it would let Dallas retain some familiarity with Milton’s skill set without committing a valuable roster spot to him. For now, though, the third-year passer who looked like the Cowboys’ QB2 favorite for most of camp finds himself off the roster entirely, a stark reminder of how quickly fortunes change during roster cutdown weekend.
The move also reshapes how Dallas approaches injury contingency plans this season. With training camp battles now decided across the league, fans tracking their team’s NFL odds will want to watch how Howell performs in relief duty if called upon, given his uneven preseason numbers compared to Milton’s efficient start. Dallas opens the regular season with Prescott firmly entrenched as the starter, but the backup picture — one that looked settled, then wide open, then abruptly closed again in the span of a week — shows just how fluid life on the roster bubble can be, even for players who had outplayed expectations for most of the summer.
