ARLINGTON, Texas — Jerry Jones floated keeping both of his backup quarterbacks. Speaking after Friday night’s 27-24 preseason loss to the New Orleans Saints, the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager said the team may “split the difference and have two backup quarterbacks,” calling it the easy way to resolve the competition between Joe Milton III and Sam Howell, according to DallasCowboys.com.
“That’s one that we may just split the difference and have two backup quarterbacks here is the easy way to do it,” Jones said postgame. “I thought both guys out there did some really good things tonight. But keep in mind, quarterback, sometimes it’s not the great plays, it’s not making the bad plays is the biggest deal of the backup quarterback.”
Jones said he thought both played well against New Orleans. He added that for a backup quarterback, avoiding bad plays matters more than making great ones.
Rosters cut to 53 players at 5 p.m. CT on Sunday. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer called the competition neck and neck after the game.
What Carrying Three Quarterbacks Would Cost
Dak Prescott, Milton, and Howell would take three of the 53 spots. Most teams carry two.
The league has an emergency third quarterback rule that reduces the need for a third arm on the active roster. A team can designate an emergency quarterback among its gameday inactives, and that player can enter if both of the quarterbacks ahead of him leave the game. A quarterback on the practice squad can be elevated for that role without the elevation counting against the usual limit.
That gives Dallas a path to keep one of the two without using a roster spot, if the player clears waivers.
Joe Milton III And Sam Howell In The Preseason
Howell went 12-of-18 for 155 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions on Friday, a 130.6 passer rating. He threw both fourth-quarter touchdown passes and ran in the tying 2-point conversion.
Milton went 8-of-15 for 92 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, a 72.1 rating. Across the first two preseason games he had gone 21-of-28 for 286 yards with 3 touchdowns.
Dallas traded a fifth-round pick to New England for Milton in 2025, and he backed up Prescott all season. Howell signed a one-year contract in March. Dallas Morning News beat writer Calvin Watkins left Howell off his 53-man roster projection this week.
Dallas opens at the New York Giants on Sept. 13. Kickoff is 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
