The Patriots are buying and selling quarterback Joe Milton to the Cowboys, per FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.
Dallas will send one of its fifth-round compensatory picks in April’s draft to New England in exchange for Milton and a seventh-rounder, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. The Patriots acquired the 171st total choose and the Cowboys now have the 217th total choose, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.
Milton was a sixth-round choose in 2024 who spent his rookie 12 months because the Patriots’ QB3 behind No. 3 choose Drake Maye and veteran Jacoby Brissett. The 6-foot-5, 246-pound Milton brings a uncommon set of bodily instruments, together with an particularly highly effective arm. He impressed in his lone look final season, finishing 22 of his 29 passes for 241 yards, one landing, and a 111.4 passer ranking in Week 18 in opposition to the Payments.
That efficiency helped to generate some trade buzz surrounding Milton, which picked up after the Patriots signed Joshua Dobbs. Dobbs arrived in New England to take over Brissett’s position, maintaining Milton third on the depth chart with little potential for taking part in time. Milton was not seen as “a super backup” for Maye, according to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. The workforce even advised Dobbs that they had been seeking to commerce Milton in an effort to construct their quarterback room round Maye and prioritize his improvement, per Breer.
Milton also wanted out of New England, seeing himself as a future starter and understanding he would have a greater likelihood at seeing the sphere elsewhere, each within the short- and long-term. The Patriots granted permission for Milton to hunt a commerce, per Schultz, and the Cowboys “confirmed probably the most curiosity from the beginning.” The 2 groups had been negotiating for just a few weeks earlier than talks accelerated at league conferences in Florida, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer.
Quite a few different groups expressed curiosity in buying and selling for Milton, according to Schultz, together with the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, and Steelers. The Patriots had a greater supply on the desk, however labored with Milton to ship him to his most popular touchdown spot in Dallas.
“My household grew up a Cowboys fan,” stated Milton (via Schultz). “My mother at all times had a Cowboys shirt on. She at all times talked about them. Residing in Texas has been a longtime dream of mine. And now I’m with them. I’m able to work.”
Milton will arrive in Dallas because the presumptive backup to Dak Prescott. The Cowboys explored an extension with 2024 backup Trey Lance after Prescott went down final season, per Archer, however the former No. 3 choose stays a free agent. Dallas additionally had curiosity in Brissett and Drew Lock in free company, according to Archer.
Milton has three years and $3.2M remaining on his contract, per OverTheCap, whereas Brissett’s shorter, two-year deal with the Cardinals is value 3 times as a lot. With Prescott nonetheless commanding the very best wage within the NFL, the Cowboys opted to commerce for a younger, cost-controlled with developmental upside over the subsequent three years.
