Why the Joe Milton trade is a much better deal for the Cowboys than the move for Trey Lance

The Joe Milton trade last week really was incredible.

It’s important to have a quality backup quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys have learned this lesson the hard way a time or two. There have been many times over the last two decades where the team has been put in a bad spot due to not having a viable backup quarterback on the roster. And with Dak Prescott missing time in four of the last five seasons, it’s not wise to head into the new season without a backup plan.

The Cowboys have relied on Cooper Rush for the last few years, and he’s been decent. The team has tried to get better but hasn’t had much success in doing so. They rolled the dice when they traded for Trey Lance, the former no. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Lance was an incredibly raw quarterback when he entered the league and only threw 102 passes before the San Francisco 49ers decided to give up on him. The brain-trust at The Star believed there was still something there and gave the 49ers a fourth-round pick in exchange for the last two years of his rookie deal.

Because the Cowboys acquired him in late August of 2023, he only had one training camp with the team. He never saw the field that season and only saw any real action in one game over his two seasons with the team. He finished his career in Dallas going 25 for 41 for 266 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Needless to say, the Lance trade didn’t work out so well for the Cowboys.

Not to be discouraged, the Cowboys are making another trip to the ‘pet sematary’, hoping things will work out differently this time. The team has given it another go by making a trade with the New England Patriots for last year’s sixth-round pick, Joe Milton.

Things are different this time. At least, that is what we want to believe. Milton doesn’t have the draft pedigree of Lance, but his inexperience as a pocket passer is evident which is why he was a late-round pick. The Patriots invested their third-overall pick in Drake Maye last year, and they bought some insurance in the form of Joshua Dobbs in free agency, so it was going to be a tight squeeze to keep Milton on the team as he would serve only as a development guy to keep in their back pocket.

But now, he’s in the Cowboys’ pocket. For a fanbase that’s had to witness the underwhelming arm strength of Rush over the last few years, the rocket arm of Milton is quite intriguing. But we shouldn’t ignore that the Patriots had him in their clubhouse for a year and were perfectly okay with giving him up for almost nothing. The Cowboys gave up a late fifth-round pick but got an early seventh-rounder in return, making the cost of acquiring Milton equivalent to a sixth-round pick.

The gist of it is that Milton needs a lot of work. He’s a big guy with a big arm who will elude pressure and make some fun plays, but to believe he’s a guy who can step in and keep the offense humming, that’s a little optimistic. Entering the league, Milton had several passing deficiencies that made him not quite ready for Sunday action. The biggest knock has been throwing catchable balls. He didn’t throw his guys open or have a soft touch, as he just rifled his passes to his receivers. He would tip off where he was going with the ball, allowing defenders a chance to contest his throws. While he did a good job taking care of the ball, he wasn’t a guy who could make accurate throws down the field. During his last year in college, he completed just 38.6 percent of his throws beyond 10 yards.

But that was his college days. At the pro level, Milton is off to a good start, at least in terms of what he’s done on the field. He didn’t play in the first 16 games last year but finally got his chance in the season finale, and he made it count. Milton looked fantastic. He finished the game 22 for 29 for 241 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also had a touchdown with his legs.

It’s one game, which we know doesn’t tell us a whole lot, but in that one game, Milton was sharp. He was decisive with the football, unnerved by pressure, and put the ball in perfect spots. He completed his first 11 passes of the game and looked very comfortable in the pocket. And while he didn’t take any deep shots, he was on target with the short and intermediate stuff. A couple of times, he wowed the crowd with his elusiveness, showing great composure and using that arm strength to make big plays. Again, it’s just one game, but it’s hard not to at least wonder if this could manifest into something larger.

The Cowboys will enter the upcoming season with a new project quarterback, but things are different this time. The cost was way less and the team gets three years of player control instead of just two. They’ll also have more than just one training camp to work with him. What Milton ultimately becomes is unknown, but credit the Cowboys for trying and doing so at a low cost. For New England to be so quick to cut him loose certainly brings about some concerns, but at the very least, pre-season just got a whole lot more interesting for the Cowboys.