{"id":990271,"date":"2026-09-02T21:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T21:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/990271\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T21:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T21:33:20","slug":"dallas-cowboys-cash-in-on-risky-joe-milton-gamble-as-they-get-the-best-of-both-worlds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/990271\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Cowboys cash in on risky Joe Milton gamble as they get the best of both worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys wanted Joe Milton back on the practice squad. And they\u2019re getting away with it after 48 hours of drama. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jan
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJan 4, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III (10) scrambles and is tackled by New York Giants cornerback Rico Payton (36) during the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRobert Deutsch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Waiving quarterback Joe Milton<\/a> on Monday was a big surprise by the Dallas Cowboys. It was also a significant risk\u2014one that paid off in the end. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s because Milton is back on the team, only this time he\u2019s a part of the practice squad, not the 53-man roster. On Tuesday, Milton cleared waivers<\/a>. Now he\u2019s back on the Cowboys, who expressed they wanted him back on the practice squad. <\/p>\n

To be honest, how this thing shook out is somewhat of a surprise given head coach Brian Schottenheimer said \u201cthere was definitely people interested in Joe.\u201d If there was, Milton cleary passed on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo have Joe Milton back would be incredible,\u201d Schottenheimer said earlier in the week. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens with the claims and see what he wants to do [. . .] He should have choices.\u201d <\/p>\n

So what now for Milton? Schottenheimer recently explained his decision to waive the quarterback and it lays out what he needs to work on before climbing up the depth chart again. <\/p>\n

Schottenheimer on Joe Milton\u2019s <\/p>\n

Despite Milton\u2019s strong preseason play, Howell was ahead of him prior to the preseason opener due to his performance on training camp. Closing out the preseason completing 11-of-13 passes helped him secure the QB2 job. <\/p>\n

As for what Milton still needs to work on, Schottenheimer inidcated it\u2019s more about the intricacies of the position than anything else. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what guys who come from that spread system have to deal with,\u201d Schottenheimer explained. \u201cIn terms of the learning curve of coming in and having to learn how to huddle, and call a play in the huddle, and make different decisions, and it\u2019s not all done from hand signals from the sideline. Some of it takes a little bit of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

As boring as it may sound to the casual fan, it\u2019s just the reality of the quarterback position. Sometimes it\u2019s not about making all the throws or being able to extend plays. It\u2019s about commanding the offense between snaps. Now he gets more time to learn the position without the pressure of having to be Dak Prescott\u2019s backup. <\/p>\n

Did Milton make the right call returning to the Cowboys? It\u2019s impossible to know without hearing what other offers he had (or if any). But Schottenheimer\u2019s pitch was clear. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve shown that we know how to develop him,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cI think him being in this system for another year would be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cowboys QB decision has to do with win now mindset<\/p>\n

One more thing that became clear was the Cowboys deciding to waive Milton was also the result of roster management. Specifically, carrying three quarterbacks was seen as too much of a luxury for a team with a win-now mentality. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve made it very clear, when you\u2019re pursuing championships and you want to win now, we\u2019re trying to build the best team possible,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cWe felt like carrying two quarterbacks was the best way for us to strengthen our roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now they have their cake and eat it, too.* They use only two roster spots on quarterbacks yet keep a developmental QB in Milton relatively safe on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

*Note: Yeah, I\u2019ve never understood this expression, either. But if others will use it, darn it, so will I! <\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Dallas\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJaydon Blue gets a shot at getting revenge on the Dallas Cowboys, but first he needs to beat a rival that\u2019s elluded him\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The former Dallas Cowboys running back is getting a chance at redemption by joining a top rival of the team that waived him over the weekend. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys wanted Joe Milton back on the practice squad. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":990272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[2886,230,229,257,2461,7,5894,6],"class_list":["post-990271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-brian-schottenheimer","tag-cowboys","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallascowboys","tag-football","tag-joe-milton","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117203593522554174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/990272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}