{"id":1035766,"date":"2026-08-31T22:37:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035766\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T22:37:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:37:19","slug":"cowboys-waive-qb-joe-milton-clearing-way-for-sam-howell-to-be-backup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/1035766\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys waive QB Joe Milton, clearing way for Sam Howell to be backup"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Milton appeared earlier in the preseason to be the front-runner to be QB2 for the Cowboys, but the team waived him Monday. Sam Hodde \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Aug. 31, 2026 Updated 4:44 pm EDT<\/p>\n

In a surprising move, the Dallas Cowboys waived backup quarterback Joe Milton on Monday, a day after he was on the team\u2019s initial 53-man roster<\/a>. He struggled a bit in Dallas\u2019 final preseason game Friday after he was outstanding in the first two, but Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the backup battle between Milton and Sam Howell was \u201cneck-and-neck.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also somewhat surprising that the Cowboys couldn\u2019t get anything in return via trade for Milton if they were willing to part with him.<\/p>\n

Dallas claimed Kansas City Chiefs running back Emari Demercado off waivers earlier Monday, and Milton was the corresponding move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition\u2019s not over,\u201d Schottenheimer said Monday of the backup QB battle, about an hour before the move was announced. \u201cWe need to just continue to assess so many positions, but those guys have made it really, really hard on us, and it\u2019s been an awesome competition, and we\u2019re still piecing the puzzle together, and that\u2019s where this thing is very fluid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could Dallas Cowboys have the NFL’s No. 1 offense in 2026?<\/p>\n

Derrik Klassen<\/p>\n

In the Cowboys\u2019 final preseason game Friday against the New Orleans Saints \u2014 a 27-24 loss \u2014 Milton completed 8 of 15 passes for 92 yards. Howell finished 12-for-18 for 155 yards and a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes. If nothing else changes before the Cowboys open the season on \u201cSunday Night Football\u201d on Sept. 13 against the New York Giants, Howell will be Dak Prescott\u2019s backup.<\/p>\n

Last week, Milton said Year 2 in the Cowboys\u2019 offense has been a \u201cbig difference\u201d for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made a huge jump in my stride of this offense. \u2026 Me understanding myself more,\u201d Milton said. \u201cDoing self-evals, being able to understand that when I\u2019m in a great base, I\u2019m able to deliver the ball however I want to. \u2026 Just gotta have a great base at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milton added on the backup QB battle with Howell: \u201cIt\u2019s great. I love competition. I love competing no matter where I\u2019m at. That\u2019s life. If my grandma was out here, I\u2019m gonna compete with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going into Year 3 of the NFL. A lot of people wish they could be here. I\u2019m just making sure I stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Aug 31, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Milton appeared earlier in the preseason to be the front-runner to be QB2 for the Cowboys, but…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1035767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[43],"tags":[8998,1318,1317,1315,1316,1232,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-1035766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-football","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117192522402822957","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1035766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1035766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1035766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1035766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1035766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}