With Joe Milton as Dak Prescott's backup, the Cowboys have a win-win situation after signing Sam Howell.
The Dallas Cowboys' quarterback position, ever since Dak Prescott was named the starter, hasn't really been a big question mark.
But behind him has.
Yes, we had Cooper Rush, who, per our own Mike Fisher, performed the "bus driver" role to near perfection.
But now we have Joe Milton.
Traded for last offseason in a deal with the New England Patriots, Milton is a raw prospect with incredible athletic gifts, but as far as playing the quarterback position, he leaves a lot to be desired.
Last offseason, Milton was up and down in Dallas' preseason games, and even in Week 18 was inconsistent. But the talent is there; it just needs time to hopefully come out.
But the Cowboys clearly want to nudge that into hyperspeed as the franchise signed Sam Howell this offseason.
A quarterback who has 18 starts in his career (5-13), he now comes into the quarterback room for Brian Schottenheimer, I think, to light a fire under Milton.
Yes, Joe has all the athletic gifts you could want, but where Howell, at least right now, has the edge is playing the position of quarterback.
And that brings me to why I think this move of Howell could turn out to be a win-win for Schottenheimer and Dallas.
One reason is that the competition between Howell and Milton brings the best out of Joe, and he goes to another level.
Let's be honest, Will Grier was never going to truly challenge Milton, was he? But Howell? You better believe there is something under the hood there.
So Milton could see this as a sign that he has to drastically improve if he wants to be Dak's backup, and in this scenario, he does. He beats out Howell for the backup role and becomes a little more polished as a quarterback.
He goes through progressions, sets protections, manipulates defenses, the whole nine yards; he doesn't just rely on his physical gifts.
So that's one "win" from the move.
The other is that Howell simply overtakes Joe and gives the Cowboys a far better backup, and makes the franchise feel a little more at ease if Prescott misses a game or two.
We have seen Howell be a starter for a full season before, throwing for 3,946 yards with 21 TDs and 21 interceptions in 2023. Not great, but certainly not the worst either, although the interceptions are far too high.
But Howell knows how to play the position to the extent that Washington thought he was "the" guy until Jayden Daniels was in their sights.
So that is how this move for Howell could turn out to be a win-win for Dallas.
Either Milton improves after getting a little kick up the backside, or Howell overtakes him, giving Dallas a better backup to Dak.
Which one will happen? Your guess is as good as mine.
