The Cowboys made a potentially big move on Thursday, adding important depth at a key position with a headline-making trade for second-year quarterback Joe Milton. In this news wrapup, we'll go over the details of the deal (including the revised schedule of draft picks), we'll get you better acquainted with the cannon-armed passer, we'll tell you who else was in the conversation to join the Dallas QB room, and we'll tell you how the Cowboys were graded for the transaction.
Elsewhere, the Cowboys have put themselves in a position to be completely flexible with their first-round draft pick... but will they actually do it? DeMarvion Overshown shares a goal for his 2025 season that borders on the incredible, we look at how Brian Schottenheimer has been preparing for his new job for literally his entire life, we take a closer look at the new changes coming to the NFL rulebook (and one that won't quite yet), we preview what promises to be a very busy "Dallas Day" at The Star in Frisco, and we entertain a positively preposterous trade scenario involving the face of the Cowboys franchise... but only long enough to dismiss it entirely for its sheer absurdity.
Cowboys trade for Patriots QB Joe Milton as backup to Dak Prescott :: Cowboys Wire
News broke Thursday morning that the Cowboys had worked a deal with New England for their third-string quarterback, taken in the sixth round just a year ago. Milton went 22-of-29 passing for 241 yards and a score in the team's season finale win over Buffalo. He added 16 yards and a touchdown on the ground in his only action as a rookie. Dallas also gets an extra seventh-round selection; the Patriots take one of the Cowboys' fifth-round picks.
2025 NFL Draft: Cowboys revised order after free agency trade for Joe Milton :: The Mothership
Dallas still has ten picks in this year's draft, even after the Milton deal. They sent the 171st pick to the Patriots, and got Pick No. 217 in return. The Cowboys' haul currently stands at: one pick each in the first, second, and third rounds; a pair of fifths, a pair of sixths, and three seventh-round selections.
Joe Milton III trade grades: Cowboys pick up a lottery ticket, Patriots cash out :: The Athletic
If Milton develops into a starter or turns the flashes he's already shown into something more consistent before the expiration of his rookie contract, the Cowboys will love having made this trade. They earn a B for the move on upside alone. Shipping off the big-armed passer, though, just to move up 46 spots on Day Three is certainly a gamble; the Pats were given a C for their end of the trade.