The Cowboys will need to find a new backup quarterback for Dak Prescott, who isn’t even guaranteed to be ready for Week 1.
Cooper Rush, the eight-year veteran who has spent nearly that entire time in Dallas, will sign a two-year deal to join the Baltimore Ravens, as reported Sunday morning by NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter, whose posts to X announcing the move came within seconds of one another. The contract is said to be worth up to $12.2 million.
Rush started eight games in 2024 after a Week 9 hamstring injury suffered by Prescott proved to be season-ending; he went 4-4 in that stretch.
Overall, Rush has 14 career starts and a 9-5 mark in those contests.
His other primary run under center for the Cowboys came in 2022 after Prescott fractured the thumb on his throwing hand in the season opener.
Rather than sinking the season, Rush’s 4-1 starting stint kept the team in excellent shape for Prescott’s eventual return and the team’s playoff berth.
Rush is 330-for-544 passing over eight seasons, totaling 3,463 yards and 20 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
A new backup for Lamar: The #Ravens and former #Cowboys QB Cooper Rush have agreed to a 2-year contract worth up to $12.2M, per me and @TomPelissero.
After a long stint in Dallas, Rush heads to Baltimore in a deal negotiated by @EquitySports CEO Chris Cabott.
pic.twitter.com/5zPnbeH7lm
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2025
A prolific college passer at Central Michigan, Rush went undrafted in the 2017 draft.
He began his Cowboys career as the third-string option behind then-second-year man Prescott and Kellen Moore.
By the following season, Moore was the team’s QB coach and Rush was the undisputed backup.
Rush has spent a short portion of his NFL tenure in another uniform.
In 2020, he was waived by Dallas after the team signed Andy Dalton and drafted Ben DiNucci in the spring. Rush was claimed off waivers by the Giants, reuniting him with former head coach Jason Garrett, who was New York’s offensive coordinator.
He was subsequently released from the Giants’ practice squad in late September, but didn’t stay out of work for long.
A month later, just before the team’s Week 8 game, the Cowboys called Rush back to Dallas as an insurance policy after Prescott had suffered a season-ending ankle injury and Dalton was in concussion protocol.
After spending the remainder of the season on the practice squad, Rush won the backup job and wouldn’t look back for the next four seasons.
Former first-round draft pick Trey Lance joined the Cowboys after a trade just prior to the 2023 season.
Rush beat out Lance for primary backup duties and then took over for Prescott in Week 9 of the 2024 campaign.
Rush stood to earn a $500,000 bonus in the regular-season finale, but lost out on it when Lance was given the start, keeping Rush below the snap count needed to trigger the bump.
In Baltimore, Rush is expected to be the understudy for two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson.
Jackson has been very durable in general but did miss five games of both the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to injury.
Lance is now a free agent is not expected to return to the Cowboys. Will Grier- with two total NFL game appearances, both in 2019- sits on the practice squad.
Prescott is said to be rehabbing nicely from his hamstring injury and says he plans to be ready for the 2025 season.
But now with Rush gone, there is no safety net at the most important position on the field in Dallas.
Locating a dependable backup (or two) just became a much bigger priority for the Cowboys, in both the second wave of free agency as well as the NFL draft.
