Home Customer Service Stay Connected Read today’s Edition Best of Wichita Local Events News Sports Business Entertainment & Food Opinion Obituaries Video Featured Reality Check Uniquely Best Of Wichita Sports Betting Shopping/Reviews Deals & Offers Press Releases Sponsored Content Classifieds Place an Ad – Celebrations Search Jobs Search Legal Notices Advertising Enjoy 3 months for $1.99! SUBSCRIBE SPORTS Winners and Losers Revealed in Cowboys Joe Milton III Trade By Nathan Karseno Athlon Sports Updated April 4, 2025 10:23 AM The Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots agreed to a trade that sent the Pats’ rookie quarterback Joe Milton III and a seventh-round pick to Dallas in exchange for a Boys’ fifth rounder in this year’s NFL Draft. After extensive coverage and rumor analysis – especially on CowboysCountry.com – the trade comes to fruition, but it’s not immediately a perfect marriage for both sides. Here are the “winners” and “losers” that came out of Thursday morning’s deal. WINNER – Joe Milton III Milton couldn’t be stepping into a better position. He is traded from the Patriots after they have obviously decided Drake Maye is their quarterback of the future … or immediate future. Although Milton will still be a backup to Dak Prescott in Dallas, he now has a much better player to learn from than Maye. Dak is one of the most poised and intelligent quarterbacks in the NFL. Milton displays all the athleticism and arm power imaginable, but lacks decision making and in-game processing in-between the ears. Prescott will be a huge help to his career in that regard. Milton also has three years to work with Prescott in Dallas. After just one season in the NFL, the Patriots gave up on their sixth-round QB before his rookie contract is even halfway done. Dak, of course, isn’t going anywhere either. With Dak’s injury history, as well, Milton may even have a higher chance to get game action than at a place like New England with a young and fresh QB. Off the field? Milton told analyst Jordan Schultz his family grew up Cowboys fans. “My mom always had a Cowboys shirt on. She always talked about them. Living in Texas has been a longtime dream of mine. And now I’m with them. I’m ready to work.” Sounds like a lot of wins to me for the newest Cowboy. LOSER – Will Grier In all the noise around Milton, it’s important to remember that the Cowboys still had a quarterback on the roster before the trade: former West Virginia Mountaineer Will Grier Grier is a loser in the trade, as one might expect, because he falls farther down the totem pole and will likely be the third-string quarterback (at best) after Milton’s arrival. He has been up and down from the Cowboys’ practice squad, but with the two men in front of him gone from last season’s team – Cooper Rush and Trey Lance – Grier might have thought 2025 was his year to stay with the top roster. That opportunity will now remain up in the air, especially if Dallas adds another quarterback from a late-round pick in the Draft. You can also throw in Lance as a loser here, as he is still without a free agency deal. Anything will Dallas is even more out the window than it already was. WINNER – Jerry Jones Say what you want about how owner and general manager Jerry Jones handles his business, but you can’t argue his front office’s “selective aggressiveness” this offseason. An investment in Milton is a great move for the organization because it hits multiple check points: Dallas solidifies a backup to Prescott, gains a young talent with a high ceiling and room for improvement, and doesn’t have to pay that much to keep him for three years. Check. Check. Check. The Cowboys will only owe Milton a combined $3.5 million over the next three seasons of his rookie deal. The financial benefit of this deal is a no-brainer win. Plus Jerry gets the internet buzzing around Milton’s alien-like highlights, generating energy back into the fanbase like only a marketing-mastermind could do. LOSER – New England Patriots In observing the conversations around the decision to deal away Milton, the Patriots are looked at as early losers – for some of the reasons listed above. The 2024 season was just Milton’s first in the NFL. It’s a head-scratching move to give up on a talent after one season, especially with as much “juice” as Milton possesses. Last year he really only had one opportunity to showcase his abilities as the starting quarterback. It didn’t’ come until the regular season finale. In that game Milton was solid. He completed 22/29 passes for 241 yards (8.3 per attempt) and one touchdown. He also scored once on the ground with 16 rush yards on 10 attempts. New England isn’t justifying this trade off of that game alone. They likely have had their mind made up that Maye is their guy, with no competition needed. They might have viewed Milton’s development as a swing and a miss, so off he goes to Dallas. WINNER – Brian Schottenheimer We finish it off with the man who can now breath easy as he enjoys his Whataburger and wine: Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Schotty could, perhaps, be the biggest winner of them all aside from Milton himself. The Cowboys’ new coach now has an absolute specimen to work with and develop, should the future call his name. Milton is just 25 years old, but already with a grown-man physique. He’s 6-5, 250 to be exact. Oh, and he can launch a football 85+ yards in the air. You can teach the mental side of the position, but you can’t teach that God-given ability. With plus athleticism and speed as well, the run-heavy mindset of Schottenheimer could adjust to utilize Milton’s legs out of the backfield, even is Prescott is good to go. The move brings a lot of wrinkles to what Schotty’s play sheet could look like, should he feel confident in throwing Milton out there. Regardless, it’s an exciting project moving forward. The trade to acquire Joe Milton III has a lot of benefits to the Dallas Cowboys. They still have some holes around the rest of the offense, but they’ve sealed up a big one – the most important position on the field, that is. For New England? Only time will tell how much they’re looked at as “losers” in the deal. Another outcome to mention is how this effects Dak Prescott. We believe this move is much more beneficial than it is detrimental to Prescott’s career. He has an insurance policy that the team can fall on, should he get injured again. He has a young star that he can take under his wing and help develop. And he’s still the clear-cut starting quarterback. There are $60 million reasons to say so in 2025. Safe to say, Prescott won’t be needing a realtor anytime soon. Neither will Milton if this deals pans out the way it seems it could.
