NFL teams officially made cutdowns to finalize their 53-man roster for the start of the season. But for some teams, transactions aren’t over yet, as organizations continue to tinker with the final roster.
The Dallas Cowboys were one such team. Taking three quarterbacks into the season, they shockingly cut Joe Milton soon afterwards.
The move came as a surprise, given the undeniable upside with Milton, but one legend believes the move was made in service of Dak Prescott.
Joe Milton Became a Victim of Dak Prescott
Coming into the league as a sixth-round pick for the New England Patriots, Milton didn’t get any playing time in his rookie season until the final game of the year. During that outing, he impressed everyone with a 241-yard, two-touchdown performance.
It certainly impressed the Cowboys, who traded a fifth-round pick for him and a seventh-round pick.
Spending the season backing up Prescott, he barely got any playing time. But his potential had already impressed folks.
Then, a stellar showing in the preseason once again invited a ton of excitement from fans and media alike. But all of that hype may have cost him his job.
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Legendary wide receiver Chad Johnson believed that fame might have played a role in the Cowboys cutting him.
“The first thing that went into my head, you know what? We can’t have a quarterback on the roster, active roster at that, that played that well,” the six-time Pro Bowl selection said on the “Nightcap” podcast.
“If things don’t go well, the first thing the whispers are, ‘Oh, they need to put so and so in and see how he can do.’ But I don’t think the Cowboys will even be in that situation where things are gonna go bottoms out when that happens. That’s not happened, not with those weapons.”
It seems like Johnson believes those questions, particularly heightened given the attention the Cowboys typically receive, could cause a problem with their starting quarterback.
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Continuing, he said, “Just the fact that they chose Sam Howell over Joe Milton, despite how Joe Milton played. This is a dirty business in general, man.” The interest in Milton has been sky high ever since his tremendous showing in the final game of the 2024 season.
This year, he threw for 107 passing yards and a touchdown in the first preseason game, before increasing those numbers to 179 passing yards and three total touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals.
Rounding it out with a quiet 92-yard showing against the New Orleans Saints in the final week of the preseason landed him as the seventh-highest quarterback during preseason by PFN’s Impact Score.
With Malik Willis getting a legitimate shot as the starter for the Miami Dolphins, there is a possibility that some team takes a swing at Milton in a similar manner as well.
