Cowboys’ calculated risk to waive QB Joe Milton makes much more sense after latest intel on potential trade
The Dallas Cowboys and Joe Milton saga came to an end earlier this week. But we’re still learning more about the whole thing.
The Dallas Cowboys and Joe Milton saga came to an end on Wednesday when he rejoined the team’s practice squad, but new intel keeps coming out.
This time, it was insider and former Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus who dropped a very intriguing nugget on the latest episode of Jeff Cavanaugh’s Trust the Tape YouTube show.
Specifically, Broaddus revealed one of the teams that called the Cowboys about potentially trading for one of the team’s quarterbacks (presumably Milton) before roster cuts: the Miami Dolphins.
Dolphins were interested in Milton or Howell
Broaddus, who had previously indicated the Cowboys fielded calls for their quarterbacks prior to cuts on Sunday, revealed the Dolphins were one of those teams.
“I was told that Miami was a team that were calling about your quarterbacks on Sunday,” Broaddus said on the show. “But they also traded for the guy in Green Bay (Kyle McCord). But Miami was a team that was calling.”
Though Broaddus didn’t clarify if the Dolphins were targeting Milton or Howell in this scenario, he did bring it up when the hosts were discussing the decision to waive Milton. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said earlier in the week there was interest in Joe.
Potential compensation led to Cowboys’ gamble?
The talks clearly didn’t evolve into a deal. But the Dolphins trading for McCord suggests they had their minds set on getting a QB. So it sure sounds like this had wheels, it just didn’t materialize into a deal.
Perhaps the issue was compensation and the Cowboys being willing to risk Milton to waivers for a chance to get him back? For what it’s worth, the Dolphins gave up a 2028 sixth-round pick to land McCord. That would be pretty low for Milton, to be honest.
Perhaps the Cowboys thought it wasn’t worth it, and instead chose to gamble and see if Milton returned to their practice squad—which he did.
“I was also told on Monday they didn’t do anything before they released Milton,” Broaddus added. “They didn’t do anything to try and trade him. Maybe they wanted him back. I think they gambled a little bit.”
It was a cold-blooded gamble if so. The timing of cutting Milton put the quarterback in a tough spot to find a taker around the league with squads set. It paid off for the Cowboys as Milton seemingly didn’t garner a lot of interest.
Broaddus added: “I do think [Milton and his camp] were trying to probably get out of here, maybe a little butt hurt by what happened, how it went down. Just couldn’t find a better situation.”
Now the Cowboys turn to the regular season with Dak Prescott and Sam Howell on the 53-man roster. Milton will have to wait for his turn developing in the background and doing as much as he can to insert himself back into the running for QB2.
