The Dallas Cowboys had an intense preseason quarterback battle featuring Joe Milton and Sam Howell. Milton’s impressive performances won praise from both head coach Brian Schottenheimer and owner Jerry Jones. In fact, Jones hinted the team would keep both backup signal-callers after naming Milton to the initial 53-man roster. However, the Cowboys waived him just 24 hours later.

While Milton ultimately cleared waivers and opted to sign with Dallas’ practice squad, he appears to be harboring some frustration over his sudden demotion.

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s happy,” Dallas Morning News Cowboys reporter Calvin Watkins told Newy Scruggs of NBC DFW. “Well, first of all, he didn’t want to get cut. Like, who wants to get cut, right? And I really honestly believe that he thought ‘I was the number two guy’ because he had started two preseason games.”

While it looked like a great preseason campaign for Milton, recording 29 of 43 passes for 378 yards and scoring three touchdowns, Sam Howell completed 27 of 40 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns, including a rushing touchdown.

“There’s a little bit of a money factor there because Sam Howell’s going to make $2 million and Joe’s making a mil. So, hey, let’s invest in Sam,” Watkins added.

In a “very, very hard decision,” as Schottenheimer described on Tuesday, Howell was picked over Milton, leaving Milton disappointed and unhappy with the team, despite rejoining them. Watkins also reported that Milton did not take lightly a joke that starting quarterback Dak Prescott made about his camouflage pants.

While the decision came as a surprise for the fans, Schottenheimer explained the reasoning behind it, saying that Howell was more efficient in terms of executing the offense in certain areas, praising Howell’s field vision.

Another factor that favored Howell over Milton was experience. While Milton has played in just five games with zero starts over his two-year NFL career, Howell has already appeared in 20 games and made 18 starts, giving him a clear edge in the competition.

Though Howell won the QB2 race, Schottenheimer didn’t close the opportunity of welcoming Milton back on the team and is glad to have him on the roster once again.

Brian Schottenheimer ‘elated’ with Joe Milton’s return to the Cowboys

Though Milton was waived by the Cowboys on Monday, Schottenheimer left a door open for the former Dallas QB2 if he cleared the waivers, saying that it “would be incredible” to have him join again, as the Cowboys knew exactly how to develop Milton. Now that Milton has decided to come back to Dallas, Schottenheimer has gotten both of his performing QBs.

“Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer is “elated” to have QB Joe Milton on the practice squad,” Jon Machota of The Athletic reported on X. “We’re thrilled to get him back. He’s gonna continue to get better.”

Milton, who had a bit of a crumbling 2025 season, playing four games as the backup QB for the Cowboys, has shown improvement over time in training camp this season, able to withstand pressure and show his arm strength, which is considered one of the strongest in the league, with him also having the highest throw power rating of 99 on EA Madden 27.

“It means a lot,” Prescott said of Milton’s return, according to Tommy Yarrish of DallasCowboys.com. “Obviously, me just personally, I thought he would’ve gotten picked up in the waivers. Fortunate for us, we got a h*** of a player back and a guy that makes our room better, a guy that makes our team better. His spirit, just the way that he approaches the day… he’s a h*** of a dude, a h*** of a competitor.”

While Milton is unhappy right now because he was not chosen as the QB2, these heaps of praise from every corner of the team would surely give him a morale boost for the upcoming season.