The Dallas Cowboys made what seemed like an odd decision on Sunday by keeping three quarterbacks on their initial 53-man roster. 

Dak Prescott, of course, is set to be the starter for Dallas this fall. The big question behind him centered on veteran Sam Howell and former Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton.

Milton, who spent his rookie season in 2024 with the New England Patriots, was traded to the Cowboys ahead of the 2025 season. The former Vol operated as Prescott’s backup last season, but Dallas elected to sign Howell earlier this year to serve as competition for Milton.

Initially, it seemed the Cowboys were leaning toward keeping Howell over Milton. 

Milton’s strong preseason, however, apparently changed those plans and Dallas kept both quarterbacks on the initial 53-man roster.

Keeping both quarterbacks doesn’t mean both will be with the Cowboys when the season starts

Just because the Cowboys kept both players this week doesn’t mean both quarterbacks will be on the 53-man roster when the season kicks off in two weeks. Howell and Milton are both viewed as quality NFL quarterbacks who can serve as a No. 2 option, and it seems unlikely that Dallas will keep both of them on the active roster.

I think the Cowboys are going to try to find a trade partner for either Howell or Milton. I’m not sure which one it’ll be, but it could be Milton because he’s likely to bring back a better trade package due to his high upside.

If Dallas had released Milton, there’s no chance he would have cleared waivers (which would’ve allowed the Cowboys to keep him on the practice squad). Another quarterback-needy team absolutely would have claimed him. So if the Cowboys plan to trade Milton, they really had no choice but to keep him on the active roster.

It’ll be something to watch over the next two weeks as teams continue to tweak their rosters. There are several franchises in the league that could still use some quarterback help, and a team may be willing to give up a draft pick for Milton – maybe even more than what Dallas initially gave up for him when they traded for him from the Patriots (the Cowboys traded a fifth-round pick to the Patriots for Milton and a seventh-round pick). 

I think Milton will be on an active roster this fall, and I think he’ll probably be the No. 2 quarterback on the depth chart. I’m just not sure which team it’ll be with.