The Cowboys waived Joe Milton on Monday, handing the backup job behind Dak Prescott to Sam Howell after a summer-long competition. It looked like a clean break. It wasn't.
More about the Cowboys waiving QB Joe Milton III and naming Sam Howell their backup QB, via @toddarcher: t.co/WwFuwfF3D9
Almost immediately, word started leaking that Dallas wanted him back if nobody claimed him. Stephen Jones said as much on the team's own radio outlet, and Brian Schottenheimer backed it up publicly, telling reporters the team would like Milton on the practice squad and that they'd 'absolutely' look to add a quarterback if he got scooped up first.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team would like to bring Joe Milton back to the practice squad.
No team put in a claim. Milton cleared waivers Tuesday and became a free agent, with Schefter and PFT both confirming the news within minutes of each other. That set up a 24-hour window where Milton, a 26-year-old sixth-round pick out of Tennessee who the Patriots took with the No. 193 overall pick in 2024, could've picked a fresh start somewhere else instead of going back to a room where he'd just lost a job.
Former Cowboys QB Joe Milton cleared waivers today and is now a free agent.
He didn't. Milton signed back to the Cowboys' practice squad on Wednesday, with Garafolo, Schefter and Rapoport all confirming the move within the same few minutes — as clean a three-source lock as it gets on a roster transaction.
#Cowboys QB Joe Milton has signed back to their practice squad.
It's a low-stakes ending for a competition that got weirdly charged all summer. Milton had a strong enough camp that some corners of the fanbase floated the idea he'd rattled Prescott, a theory Clarence Hill Jr. mocked outright once Milton was back in the building. Realistically, this is about organizational depth, not a threat to the starter — the Cowboys just weren't ready to let a big-armed developmental arm walk for nothing when nobody else wanted him either.
For now Milton is the No. 3 quarterback in Dallas, a practice squad piece who can be elevated on game weeks if either Prescott or Howell goes down. That's a modest outcome for a guy with a 6-foot-5 frame and one of the strongest arms in his draft class, but after a week of getting cut and going unclaimed, it's also the best landing spot he had available.