FRISCO, Texas — Joe Milton III called his release last week shocking. The quarterback is back with the Dallas Cowboys on the practice squad, one rung below the job he lost to Sam Howell. Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com published the availability Monday.
Dallas waived Milton on Aug. 31, one day after he made the initial 53-man roster. The move was the corresponding transaction for the waiver claim of running back Emari Demercado from the Kansas City Chiefs. Milton cleared waivers at the 3 p.m. CT deadline the next afternoon. He signed back to the practice squad on Sept. 2. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said Tuesday on All DLLS Cowboys, with Milton still on the wire, that the club was in talks with him.
Milton went to the business line about the decision, without agreeing with it.
“Nah, I’m still the best quarterback in my eyes,” Milton said. “So, it is what it is. It’s just something you gotta live with, take it to the chin.”
Across three preseason games, Milton went 29-of-43 passing for 378 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. His passer rating was 118.2. He carried 12 times for 14 yards and a touchdown. Howell started the preseason opener at the Seattle Seahawks on Aug. 15. Milton started the next two, at the Arizona Cardinals on Aug. 22 and against the New Orleans Saints on Aug. 28 at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas had one preseason game left after the Arizona win.
“This is long from over,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “We’re going back to Frisco, thankfully, get a chance to be home and put some more training camp days in. You’ve got to give Joe his credit, he’s played really well the past two games, but we have a lot of confidence in Sam as well.”
Schottenheimer said the day after the release that Dallas would not carry a third quarterback on the 53-man roster and wanted Milton back on the practice squad.
“We looked at the whole body of work,” Schottenheimer explained. “We just felt like Sam had done a little bit more just in terms of executing the offense in certain areas.”
Joe Milton III On Returning To The Dallas Cowboys
Milton had offers to weigh once he cleared waivers. The relationships in the building brought him back.
“I’ve got Dak in my (QB) room,” Milton said. “A lot of places don’t have a true vet that’s been a starter in this league since they got in. Having him in the room is one of those ways that I know for sure I’ll be taken care of, as far as my knowledge and development of the game – and football talk for sure.”
Dak Prescott is entering his 11th season in Dallas. He threw for 4,552 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 2025. The Cowboys finished 7-9-1.
The New England Patriots drafted Milton in the sixth round in 2024, 193rd overall. He played the majority of New England’s 2024 finale against the Buffalo Bills, completing 22-of-29 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown in a 23-16 win. He added 10 carries for 16 yards and a score. New England traded him and a 2025 seventh-round pick to Dallas in April 2025 for a 2025 fifth-round pick. In four appearances last season, Milton completed 15-of-24 passes for 183 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions.
Joe Milton III’s Role On The Practice Squad
Milton is expected to handle much of the scout-team work against the Dallas defense, according to DallasCowboys.com. Under league rules, a club may elevate a practice squad player to the game-day roster three times in a season without signing him to the active roster.
His signing filled 15 of the 16 standard practice squad spots. A 17th spot is available through an International Player Pathway exemption, which does not count against those 16. Two years remained on the rookie contract Milton signed with New England when Dallas released him. No club claimed it. Terms of the practice squad deal were not reported.
Howell signed with Dallas in March after the Philadelphia Eagles let his contract lapse. He carries a $2 million base salary this season. He has 18 career starts, all with the Washington Commanders in 2022 and 2023. Milton has appeared in five regular-season games over two seasons.
Cut-down day cost Milton a roster spot he had held for one day.
“It’s life, you have to be ever to live with it, roll with it and be able to deliver blows back when it’s time,” Milton said.
Dallas opens the season against the New York Giants at 7:20 p.m. CT Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. NBC and Peacock carry the game.
