The beauty of training camp is that nothing is earned and eveything has to be fought for. Whether it's a bunch of summer standouts looking to secure their roster spots or a bunch of players looking to make their mark in a position battle, the Dallas Cowboys are embracing the summer competition.
The competitions span all across the roster, but some have given Brian Schottenheimer an easier time to evaluate. For example, it's practically inevitable that Tyler Guyton will be the Cowboys' starting left tackle, but the CB2 battle between Shavon Revel Jr. and Cobie Durant is far from settled.
However, that's not even the competition that Schottenheimer has been losing the most sleep over. We know Dak Prescott is the starting quarterback, but determining who will back him up has been a much more difficult decision than anticipated, especially since neither QB2 candidate is pulling away.
The Dallas Cowboys are struggling to decide who will be their backup quarterback
Dallas has held open auditions between Joe Milton and Sam Howell to back up Prescott, and right now, we're in a stalemate. Milton threw an interception in Tuesday's joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams, while Howell threw a would-be interception that was dropped by the defender.
And it's not like this trend has surfaced in joint practices either. All summer long, no one has been able to pull away. Some reports have suggested that Howell is the frontrunner to be the backup, while others have revealed that he's spent more time as the third-stringer and Milton's in line to be QB2.
Even Schottenheimer doesn't know the direction that this competition will go yet. When the Cowboys released their first unofficial depth chart of the offseason, they listed Joe Milton "OR" Sam Howell as QB2, so even though Milton's name came first, this is pretty much as tied as it gets.
Here's the thing: Sam Howell has been more turnover-prone of the two of them, but he was also given $2 million in guaranteed money in hopes of him being able to compete for the QB2 job. Meanwhile, his competition is a 2024 sixth-round pick whom Dallas gave up a fourth-round pick for last summer, but doesn't have much going for him other than a rocket arm.
Since training camp hasn't provided enough separation in the competition, Brian Schottenheimer will have to use the preseason as the ultimate litmus test to decide whether Joe Milton or Sam Howell backs up Dak Prescott in 2026.
Both of these guys could be solid backups, but it's been touugh sledding for both of them so far.
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