In the first big wave of free agency, the Dallas Cowboys said goodbye to some players and welcome other ones in. One of the key departures, without a replacement, was backup quarterback Cooper Rush.
After seven seasons with the Cowboys and 38 games played including 14 starts, Rush signed a two-year, $5 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens to backup Lamar Jackson for the reigning AFC North champions.
For Dallas, it leaves a big hole behind Dak Prescott after a season where he missed the final nine games with a torn hamstring.
A prevailing thought in media circles has been that Dallas will use a day three selection in next month’s draft to address the position, but speaking at the NFL League Meeting on Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla., executive vice president Stephen Jones kept the door open for a veteran addition instead.
“[Quarterback] is still an option that we’re looking at [in free agency],” Jones said.
“We could do it via trade, we could do it via what’s available out there. There’s a lot of ways player acquisition occurs.”
On the open market, capable backups still remain such as Joe Flacco, Drew Lock, Carson Wentz and Desmond Ridder.
There is a desire by the team to get younger behind Prescott, which would eliminate Wentz and Flacco, theoretically. But if the team were to sign one of those guys to a two-year deal, it would actually make sense with what the future could look like at the position. Prescott has four years left on his contract.
If a quarterback is drafted after the first round next month, that player would be picked with the expectation of being the No. 2 for the entirety of his four-year rookie contract.
Signing a veteran to a two-year deal before pulling the trigger on a rookie in, say, 2027 would make a lot more sense. Another option could include a player already on a team in a trade possibility, as Jones alluded to.
The Cowboys have been rumored to have interest in Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton III. During Milton’s draft process in 2024, the Cowboys were enamored with the Tennessee product but did not have a need at the position to warrant a draft pick.
That intrigue still exists, according to a person with knowledge of the team’s thinking.
On Monday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel addressed the trade opportunity that Milton could have in front of him. “I think Joe did everything they asked him to do last year,” Vrabel said.
“He worked extremely hard, and that’s tough when you’re a quarterback. Everybody wants to play. He was ready for his opportunity there late in the season which I commend him on.
Where that leads to, we’ll see as the draft approaches or where Joe is on April 7 to start our offseason program.” In talking to league sources, Milton would most likely cost somewhere in the range of a third or fourth-round draft pick.
Dallas does not own a fourth-round pick in 2025 and will need to use its third-round pick on a position of need.
If the price drops to a fifth-round pick, Dallas has three selections in that round to work with.
Regardless, Dallas is still doing homework on a variety of options both on the free agent market and the trade market before the draft next month. “I think we look at the full package when you’re looking at it,” Stephen Jones said.
“You’re probably not going to get all things just right. You know exactly what you want, but at the same time, you certainly want to get the very best guy that gives you the best chance to compete with [Will] Grier and be in that room with Dak and whoever else we add.”
