The Dallas Cowboys' decision to waive Joe Milton on Monday sent fans into a frenzy. And understandably so.
Milton seemed to have done everything to win the backup job. Sam Howell's experience may have won out in the end, but Dallas spent the past year and a half developing Milton, hoping he'd grow into a long-term backup and potentially a future starter.
Risking him getting claimed on waivers is an unnecessary gamble, especially after he showed signs that the Cowboys' investment in his development was paying off.
So, what led to the decision? On his YouTube show with Jeff Cavanaugh of All-City DLLS, former Cowboys scout Bryan Broaddus disclosed the details. It only makes the move harder to understand.
"Sunday at 5 p.m., they were committed to taking three quarterbacks," Broaddus said. "Something happened between [then] and yesterday afternoon when they needed a roster spot, and they determined Joe Milton was currently the 53rd player on their roster.
There were whispers that Milton requested a trade. I got that on really good source that he did not request a trade. Did the Cowboys field calls about possibly getting their quarterbacks traded for on Sunday? Yes, that's true. ... Did they try and trade Joe Milton yesterday before they released him? No, they did not."
The Cowboys reportedly received trade calls on Joe Milton but didn't try to trade him
So, the Cowboys received calls on their quarterbacks, which implies teams were interested in both Milton and Howell, but seemingly had no interest in trading Milton before releasing him.
Super. Now we're even more confused. Let's attempt to talk this through.
Dallas rebuffing trade calls on Milton signals an intent to sign him to the practice squad once (if) he passes through waivers. Had they released him standardly during Sunday's cuts, another team almost certainly would have claimed him.
Holding off until Monday, when virtually every QB depth chart was locked in, vastly improves his odds of clearing waivers. It's a calculated risk that the Cowboys are banking on, but they definitely did the math before exposing their development quarterback to the waiver wire.
Of course, being the 53rd guy on the roster shouldn't automatically make Milton the designated fall guy. The Cowboys kept six safeties, six outside linebackers, and surprised just about everyone when cornerbacks Ameer Speed and Caelen Carson appeared on the initial 53.
Cowboys had ample more cuttable players than Joe Milton
You're telling me Dallas couldn't have waived Speed, Carson, or Alijah Clark? Markquese Bell? Each of them would have much greater odds of clearing waivers than a 6-foot-5 mobile quarterback with a bazooka attached to his right shoulder.
Not to get back on my Drew Shelton soapbox, but how on earth is Shelton not the 53rd player on this roster? (??).
By all accounts, Milton had a really, really strong training camp. And that carried over into the preseason, where he completed over 67 percent of his passes for 388 yards (8.8 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns to zero interceptions. He was a top-five quarterback this preseason by every metric.
Shelton, meanwhile, was so bad that the Cowboys went out and traded for Broderick Jones, a former first-round pick coming off spinal fusion surgery who had fallen out of favor in Pittsburgh, and added former third-round pick Wanya Morris, who has over 1,000 snaps at left tackle, to keep him as far away from the field as possible.
At best, Shelton is Dallas' OT5. They might as well put an "R" next to his name on the official roster, because his rookie year is going to be a redshirt. Based on merit, Shelton has zero business being on the roster. Let's call it what it is. It's pathetic that he was protected because he's a fourth-round rookie.
Since the Cowboys have every intention of signing Joe Milton to the practice squad, it makes absolutely zero sense to waive him. We don't care that he was the 53rd player on a piece of paper.
If Dallas truly values his upside, exposing him to 31 other teams is negligible asset management. Waive players you can afford to lose -- not the ones you actively want to develop.
He better make it back to the practice squad.
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