FOXBOROUGH – About two hours before offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was scheduled to meet the media for the first time since returning, one of his quarterbacks was traded away.

Joe Milton – who fans quickly fell in love with because of his back flip ability and absurdly strong arm – was traded to the Dallas Cowboys along with a seventh round pick for a fifth round pick.

Given how highly many people around the league think of Milton because of that arm talent and because of the way he played against Buffalo in the regular season finale (albeit against many, many backups), the return is rather surprising. At one point, many thought Milton might garner a third round pick, or at least a fourth.

Making things a bit more awkward is the fact that Jordan Schultz has reported the Patriots turned down a better offer to send Milton somewhere he wanted to go out of a sign of ‘respect.’

“My family grew up a Cowboys fan,” Milton told Schultz. “My mom always had a Cowboys shirt on. She always talked about them. Living in Texas has been a longtime dream of mine. And now I’m with them. I’m ready to work.”

The problem with that is a second-year guy who played one game certainly doesn’t need that much respect, especially if you’re hurting how you approach the draft when it comes to the capital the team is collecting.

It’s also peculiar why the team would do it now. Why not wait until a team may get desperate during the draft and overpay? Or, if you weren’t going to trade him, why not wait until at least OTA’s incase Drake gets injured? Currently, the QB room now consists of Maye and newly signed veteran Josh Dobbs. So, are the Patriots now taking another young QB with one of their picks in a few weeks?

While Mike Vrabel made it pretty clear the other day that Milton was most likely going to be moved – even hinting it would happen before the first day of the voluntary offseason program on April 7th – both the return in the deal and the timing of it don’t make a ton of sense.

Having said all that, it is nice to see Vrabel continuing to put his stamp on things early and often. If Joe Milton goes on to be an MVP caliber QB with absurd TD throws and several rings, New England will be eviscerated in the history books. For now, it’s a gamble Vrabel was willing to take early in his tenure as the new HC of the NEP.