The Dallas Cowboys explained why they released Joe Milton and they took a little shot at the Tennessee Vols
Former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback Joe Milton was surprisingly released by the Dallas Cowboys earlier this week.
Former Tennessee Vols quarterback Joe Milton was released by the Dallas Cowboys earlier this week despite a strong preseason.
The Cowboys elected to go with veteran Sam Howell as their No. 2 quarterback behind Dak Prescott instead of Milton, who served in that role last season.
Dallas reportedly had trade conversations with teams about Milton, but no deal was made.
Milton cleared waivers on Tuesday and is free to sign with any team.
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer explains why Dallas released Joe Milton
Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer spoke with reporters on Tuesday and he explained why Dallas released Milton.
Schottenheimer noted that they liked the way Howell operated the offense better, and he also suggested that the offense Milton played in at Tennessee slowed his development.
“It was a very hard decision to make,” said Schottenheimer. “We had a great conversation with Joe and explained to him our thought process behind it. I think when we looked at the whole body of work, we just felt like Sam had done a little bit more — just in terms of executing the offense in certain areas.”
“The arm talent is real,” added Schottenheimer. “I think we’ve talked a lot in here about the touch and how he’s developed the touch. I do know that he did a much better job with our system. I mean, this is what guys who come from that spread system have to deal with. In terms of the learning curve of coming in and having to learn how to huddle and how to call a play in the huddle and make different decisions. It’s not all done from hand signals from the sidelines and things like that. And for some of them, it takes a little bit of time.
“So again, I think Joe’s going to be a terrific player in this league. I’m not going to say in what regard, but like I said, it was a very tough decision — one we did not take lightly. And if we can get him back, awesome. If not, I wish him nothing but the best of luck. He’s a terrific young man. He worked really, really hard to get better, and I think he has a very bright future.”
Milton played at Tennessee when Josh Heupel’s offense was mostly a spread system that utilized choice routes and tempo (the Vols were more pro-style in 2025, two years after Milton left). The offense, at that time, wasn’t like anything you see in the NFL.
But I still don’t think it’s fair to put the blame on Tennessee’s offense for Milton’s development. After all, he played in a pro-style system at Michigan under Jim Harbaugh from 2018 to 2020. And he’s now entering his third season in the NFL. At some point, it’s on the player and not the college system he played in (playing in the Air Raid at Texas Tech didn’t seem to impact Patrick Mahomes’ development, for example).
That’s not to say Milton won’t figure it out in the NFL — he’s still just 26 years old (former Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs didn’t make his first NFL start until he was 27 years and 11 months). I just don’t think it’s fair to place the onus on the system he played in at Tennessee three years ago for where his development in the NFL currently is.
