The Dallas Cowboys overpaid for Jonathan Mingo in a trade last year. Before that, they overpaid for Trey Lance.
The Cowboys did not overpay for Joe Milton III. Far from it.
There's a chance we could look back at Thursday's trade as an important moment for the Cowboys, and how often can you say that about acquiring a player one year removed from being a sixth-round pick? The Cowboys traded for Milton, the New England Patriots' backup quarterback, giving up only a fifth-round pick while getting Milton and also a seventh-round pick back.
Milton got on everyone's radar with his ridiculous arm talent and some eye-popping plays last preseason, and an exciting Week 18 performance to end his rookie season. The Patriots have a quarterback, Drake Maye, so Milton was on the trade block. Milton is still very raw, and might never develop into an NFL starter. But the physical talent is obvious. At least Maye doesn't have to worry about Milton being a threat and the Patriots don't have to hear about a quarterback controversy, neither of which are good enough reasons to give away a unique young talent.
If Milton never plays a down for the Cowboys, it's not like they gave up much to gamble on Milton's ability.
Patriots ship off Joe Milton III
The Patriots, who know something about making great sixth-round picks, should have been ecstatic about what it saw from Milton after picking him in the sixth round.
Milton was an exciting prospect coming out of Tennessee, but raw enough that he fell in the draft. The Patriots took him and he made some intriguing plays in the preseason. When the Patriots gave him most of a Week 18 game against the Buffalo Bills, Milton went 22 of 29 for 241 yards and a touchdown in a Patriots win. That came against Bills backups as they rested for the playoffs, but the promise Milton showed in the final game of his rookie season was notable.
And the Patriots gave that up for a late-round draft pick swap. It's surprising the Patriots didn't get more, or just wait longer on a player who was one year into a four-year, $4.2 million rookie deal. New England signed Joshua Dobbs, who will be their steady veteran backup who won't threaten Maye, but the avoidance of any fan or media fueled quarterback controversy with Milton probably wasn't worth giving him away for barely more return than you invested in the first place (and probably even less of a return when you factor in the seventh-round pick also going to Dallas).
It's hard to see this being a bad deal for the Cowboys, regardless of how Milton develops.
