Jerry Jones & Co. played their hand in igniting the QB2 battle at the Dallas Cowboys. On one hand, Joe Milton III is eyeing to establish himself in the franchise. On the other hand, the front office made a move to sign free agent QB Sam Howell on a $2 million contract with $500,000 in signing bonus. While the battle is still on between the two, Cowboys insider Todd Archer predicts Milton’s exit.

“Considered going with Joe Milton III and making it three but opted against it,” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote. “The Cowboys guaranteed Howell $2 million in free agency and don’t make it a habit of letting that financial commitment walk. Milton is still young enough to see how he develops and could be a practice squad guy. Howell has more experience and command.”

In the 2025 season, the Dallas Cowboys had only two quarterbacks on their roster, with Dak Prescott as the starter and Joe Milton III as the primary backup. Similarly, Todd Archer predicted the franchise would follow the same approach for the upcoming season as well. However, despite spending a year with the Cowboys, the insider does not feel confident about Milton making it to the final 53-man roster. And the reason behind the opinion is Sam Howell.

The Cowboys signed Howell earlier this year, in March. The 25-year-old has only played two games in the last two seasons. He was moved to the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2025 season, but failed to start a game for them. However, Dallas still roped him in because they saw the potential in him from his time with the Washington Commanders.

In the 2023 season, Howell started all 17 games for the Commanders and recorded 3,946 passing yards. While he has not started a lot of games in recent times, Howell brings more experience as compared to someone like Milton, who has started just five games in two seasons.

He has racked up only 424 passing yards and two touchdowns in five career games. Despite that, HC Brian Schottenheimer has ensured giving Milton and Howell equal opportunities to battle it out for the QB2 position.

“Brian Schottenheimer said the No. 2 QB reps will be split evenly between Joe Milton and Sam Howell. Last week, Milton took the No. 2 reps; this week will be Howell. ‘It’s going to be a fun competition,'” Schottenheimer said, as reported by Todd Archer last month.

As things stand, Joe Milton III has the lookout of a raw, unpolished, talented signal-caller, while Sam Howell comes in with significant experience to start NFL games, as he did for the Washington Commanders in the 2023 season. And this is a fact that even the Cowboys HC agreed to.

“Sam Howell has more starts than Cooper Rush,” Schottenheimer pointed out. “He’s been exposed to a lot, been in a lot of different systems, which I think is great for all of us.”

So, for now, the backup for Dak Prescott’s position is up for grabs. But while Milton and Howell battle it out for the 2026 season, the Cowboys may have been looking for a plan beyond that; if not, they did once.

Dallas Cowboys reportedly had eyes on another young QB

Franchise quarterback Dak Prescott‘s contract with the Dallas Cowboys will run through the 2028 season. So, to develop another young, promising signal-caller as the backup to Prescott, the franchise had been making attempts. Joe Milton III (in 2025) and Sam Howell (in 2026) stand as prime examples of it. However, Howell wasn’t the only quarterback the Jerry Jones-owned franchise was interested in.

“When Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby put his name in the supplemental draft, multiple sources said the Cowboys had high interest even with the gambling issues that surrounded Sorsby. Prescott is signed through 2028, so an attempt to potentially find his successor at what could have been a lower-than-expected price would have made sense even if it drew added attention to the Cowboys’ quarterback room.” ESPN’s Todd Archer wrote.

Brendan Sorsby came out as an interesting prospect to many NFL teams when he submitted a petition to enter the Supplemental Draft. Sorsby was coming off a controversial legal clash with the NCAA as well. Considering that, a few NFL teams even steered cleared off the 22-year-old Texas-born quarterback. But that wasn’t the case for Jerry Jones.

“I do like the Supplemental Draft. Especially where we are,” Jones said to Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein. “The sooner to today that we can get as many good ones on the field, that’s a plus for us. Cause I’m in that mood.”

However, the NFL canceled the 2026 supplemental draft because Sorsby was the only applicant, and the league stated that it lacked time to properly review his college gambling violations before the strict deadline. Thus, his potential addition to the Cowboys also went away. That said, Sorsby will now spend a year in training before entering the 2027 NFL Draft, where it will be interesting to see if Dallas makes a formal move for the 22-year-old QB.