In the middle of the Cowboys’ decisions this week to upgrade their team was a pickup of a backup quarterback.
The Cowboys agreed to terms to sign quarterback Sam Howell to a one-year deal. It wasn’t promoted with a fancy post on social media on Wednesday, like the one for new edge rusher Rashan Gary, but Howell is coming to town.
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Signing Howell should be met with applause because it was a message sent to Joe Milton III.
Cowboys
You remember ol’ Joe Milton?
Last season, the strong-armed Milton earned the No. 2 job behind Dak Prescott and played in four games.
There was a possibility Milton would start the regular-season finale at the New York Giants, but Prescott got those honors. Milton played in the second half and finished 7 for 13 for 73 yards with an interception and no touchdowns in a 34-17 loss.
Maybe that performance and what the team witnessed during training camp, three preseason games and limited time in four regular-season games, was enough to realize it either needs to challenge Milton to improve, which he’s done, or replace him, which might happen.
Milton’s arm strength is remarkable. He dashes out of the pocket a little too quickly at times, but he seems to have command of the offense and has improved on having a little touch on his throws.
Like most young quarterbacks, he needs to play and have a team willing to live with the mistakes that occur with that until he matures.
What Milton apparently didn’t give the Cowboys was enough confidence that if something happened to Prescott he could win a game for them.
It’s the reason Howell is headed to Texas.
Prescott hasn’t played a full season in consecutive years since 2016-2019. He’s had a fractured ankle, thumb and hamstring injuries every other year.
Prescott scoffs that he’s injury-prone, and that’s fair of him to say. He had a fantastic 2025 when he was mentioned in the MVP conversation, led the league in passing yards going into the last week of the season and took charge of an offense that finished second in total yards (391.9) and seventh in points (27.7).
But the NFL is about contingency plans.
Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush became the darling around town in 2022 when he won four of five games. In 2024, he went 4-4.
Rush is gone, having played last season in Baltimore, where he went 0-2 as a starter with four INTs and no touchdowns for an injured Lamar Jackson.
Prescott finished 2025 healthy and there’s an expectation he’ll do the same in 2026.
You just have to be ready in case something happens.
This is where Howell enters the picture.
He’s now on his fifth team, after Washington drafted him in the fifth round in 2022. He’s got 18 starts in his career, including a full season with the Commanders in 2023, when he led the NFL not only in passing attempts (612) but interceptions (21).
The Commanders finished 4-13.
Howell last played in a regular-season game for Seattle in 2024. Last season, he played in two preseason games for Minnesota and completed 12 of 18 passes for 118 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. He was then traded to Philadelphia, where he didn’t participate in a regular-season game.
So you bring in Howell to push Milton. The Cowboys on Thursday released Will Grier, who signed a futures contract in February.
When this team gets to Oxnard, Calif., Milton and Howell will go head-to-head to back up Prescott. Both could make the team, with one player getting the No. 2 gig.
Whatever happens, Milton was put on notice.
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