{"id":422725,"date":"2026-09-01T09:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T09:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/422725\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T09:54:19","slug":"cowboys-release-joe-milton-in-surprise-quarterback-shakeup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/422725\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys release Joe Milton in surprise quarterback shakeup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Cowboys have a new running back among their ranks and a change in their quarterback depth chart. <\/p>\n<p>Dallas claimed Emari Demercado off waivers on Monday from the Chiefs, helping to fill a position of need for the Cowboys after they cut Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah on Sunday.\u00a0Monday\u2019s addition came at the expense of quarterback Joe Milton, who was waived in a corresponding move.<\/p>\n<p>Milton had a good showing in the preseason, completing 29 of 43 passes for 378 yards with three touchdowns and served as the backup in 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.281602;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"40599997\" width=\"756\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dallas-cowboys-quarterback-joe-milton-138250687.jpg\" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III throws a pass.\" class=\"wp-image-40599997\"\/>Dallas Cowboys quarterback Joe Milton III throws a pass in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>Milton came to Dallas ahead of the 2025 season in a trade with the Patriots, who drafted him in the sixth round in 2024, after his <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/04\/sports\/joe-milton-iii-hated-his-time-with-the-patriots-disrespected\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">relationship with New England soured<\/a> and he was buried on the depth chart behind draft classmate Drake Maye and veteran Jacoby Brissett.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/49786242\/cowboys-waive-joe-milton-iii-name-sam-howell-backup-qb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">ESPN reported<\/a> that the Cowboys had engaged in some trade conversations prior to the roster cutdown. <\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys had just one running back \u2014 Malik Davis \u2014 behind starter Javonte Williams.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Demercado started his NFL career with the Cardinals, spending three seasons with them before signing with the Chiefs this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>In his three NFL seasons, Demercado rushed 126 times for 819 yards and three touchdowns. He tacked on 50 receptions for 324 yards and a receiving touchdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One of his most notable moments in the NFL came this past season, but it\u2019s likely one that Demercado would forget about.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/05\/sports\/emari-demercado-blunder-costs-cardinals-touchdown-and-the-game\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">During a game against the Titans<\/a> in October, he had run for what he thought would be a touchdown, but instead wound up changing the course of the game in favor of Tennessee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:0.66699219;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"   data-modal-image=\"40600020\" width=\"394\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/kansas-city-chiefs-running-back-138841102.jpg\" alt=\"Kansas City Chiefs running back Emari Demercado (25) runs with the ball.\" class=\"wp-image-40600020\"\/>Kansas City Chiefs running back Emari Demercado (25) runs the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half of a game on Friday, August 28, 2026, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>He dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line and negated what would have given the Cardinals a 27-6 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The play led to the Titans storming back to win the game by one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Ex-Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon got into Demercado\u2019s face after the error, and it led to a $100,000 fine being handed down to the coach by the team.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cowboys have a new running back among their ranks and a change in their quarterback depth chart.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422726,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,113,104,103,80,154,111303],"class_list":["post-422725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-training-camp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}