FRISCO, Texas — The Dallas Cowboys have waived quarterback Joe Milton III, the club announced Monday. The move opened the roster spot for running back Emari Demercado, claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the day.
Dallas had kept three quarterbacks on Sunday’s initial 53-man roster, one more than most clubs carry.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer met with reporters at The Star before Monday’s practice, with the corresponding move still unannounced. He opened on the 35 players Dallas let go over the weekend. He is indebted to them for how hard they worked and how much they bought into the culture.
“We got about an hour to do it, so I got to hurry up with you,” Schottenheimer said.
“Like I said, Calvin, everything’s fluid,” Schottenheimer continued. “We’ve got a few things we’re looking at, but listen to me anyways. You guys are probably all looking on your phones. That’s okay.”
“We’ve got a number of guys that we’ve talked to about coming back on the practice squad,” Schottenheimer said. “We don’t say that to everybody, if I’m being honest. You know, you don’t say that to each player because you don’t want to, you know, I want to be honest with them. And so I feel really good about that. But once I have more information than you guys, which sounds like I don’t at this time, I’ll be able to speak more and more about that.”
Brian Schottenheimer Says The Quarterback Competition Is Not Settled
Schottenheimer is calling this a ramp-up week. Dallas will hold a shells practice for an hour and a half on Tuesday, and Wednesday’s practice, starting at 8 a.m., lasts an hour and 45 minutes, with Schottenheimer cautioning reporters about the early start.
“At the end of the day, we just feel like the competition’s not completely settled, and we need to work through that,” Schottenheimer explained. “And it’s, we’re constantly ripping through numbers and video and film and, it just, at the time we’re not ready to make the decision.”
Dallas has not finalized how it will use the third quarterback designation on opening night.
“I think at the same time, the competition’s not over,” Schottenheimer said. “We need to continue to assess so many positions, but those guys have made it really, really hard on us. It’s been an awesome competition. And we’re still piecing the puzzle together. And that’s where this thing is very fluid.”
Schottenheimer described Monday’s practice as a return to fundamentals focused on individual skills, with defensive backs working on backpedals and breaking on the ball and quarterbacks working on drops and hand placement. Competitions stay open at all positions through Tuesday and Wednesday. Schottenheimer said the staff will have a clearer plan for rotations once players return for the bonus Monday.
Joe Milton III In Dallas
The Cowboys plan to add Milton to the practice squad if he clears waivers, Patrik Walker of DallasCowboys.com reported, and there are a few spots left in that group. Dallas signed 13 players to the practice squad earlier Monday. Twelve of the 16 standard spots are filled.
Since Milton has not achieved vested veteran status in his third season, he goes on waivers rather than free agency. Another team may claim him and his contract before Dallas has the opportunity.
The New England Patriots spent a sixth-round pick on Milton in 2024, at 193rd overall, the same draft in which they took Drake Maye third. Milton had two years at Michigan behind him and one season starting at Tennessee. New England moved him a year later, and Dallas gave up a fifth-round pick to get Milton and a seventh, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported at the time.
Milton’s 2025 regular season came to four appearances, with 15-of-24 passing for 183 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. One of the interceptions came in the second half of the finale.
Milton went 9-of-13 for 179 yards with 2 touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 22, and he ran for another score. He finished 8-of-15 for 92 yards and no touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints on Friday.
Sam Howell holds the backup job on his own now, behind Dak Prescott. Dallas signed him in free agency with $2 million guaranteed, per Archer. He threw both fourth-quarter touchdown passes against New Orleans, finishing 12-of-18 for 155 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 130.6 passer rating.
Demercado signed with Kansas City on March 16 and did not make the Chiefs’ roster. He got there after three seasons in Arizona, where he arrived as an undrafted free agent out of TCU. His career totals are 40 games, 126 carries for 819 yards and 3 touchdowns, and 50 receptions for 324 yards and a touchdown. Javonte Williams, Malik Davis, and fullback Hunter Luepke were the running backs Dallas opened the week with.
Dallas has 13 days until the opener at the New York Giants on Sept. 13. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
