Courtesy of USA Today.

The Patriots have traded quarterback Joe Milton along with a 2025 seventh round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for a 2025 fifth round pick. According to sources, Milton requested a trade and the Patriots honored his request.

Milton was drafted in the sixth round of last season’s draft by the Patriots out of Tennessee. Milton made an impression on Patriots fans early with his cannon arm and his back flips in training camp. Milton started the last game of the regular season, completing 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown while scrambling for another touchdown in a win over the Buffalo Bills.

Milton will be backing up Dak Prescott in Dallas and he could have an opportunity to start down the road depending on what happens with Prescott. This will be the second time in three years the Cowboys are trading for a back up quarterback. Dallas traded for Trey Lance in August of 2023.

With the Milton trade, the Patriots now have Drake Maye and Josh Dobbs as the only quarterbacks on the roster. With a third quarterback a necessity in today’s game, the Patriots could sign another veteran or draft a quarterback late. Eliot Wolf comes from the Green Bay Packers school of thought so drafting quarterbacks yearly is something he believes in.

Milton was never going to be a part of the Patriots plans so trading him makes sense, especially if he wanted out of New England. Holding onto Milton and increasing his value in the preseason would have been ideal but the Patriots decided to do right by the player and traded him. You have to give credit to Wolf on this one. He turned a late round quarterback pick into a valuable and higher day three pick. Could Milton turn into something down the road for the Cowboys or another team? Sure, but it does not matter. He was never going to get that opportunity here.

The fifth round pick should come in handy in a draft that is crucial to the Patriots turning things around. The pick could be used on a player or as part of a trade. It give the Patriots more flexibility. New England still has 9 picks in this month’s draft.