The New England Patriots were heavily rumored to trade Joe Milton this offseason with the emergence of Drake Maye and the signing of Joshua Dobbs at quarterback. They finally did trade him Thursday, sending him to the Dallas Cowboys.
The details of the trade include Milton heading to Dallas along with a 2025 seventh-round pick for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
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The original reported price from the Patriots was a third-round pick, so seeing this deal was a bit surprising on paper at first. However, it is unclear if any team was anywhere close to willing to meet that price.
It seems that wasn’t the case given this price, but then that begs the question of whether the deal was worth doing or not, even the Patriots were intent on trading him.
It is also possible the Patriots wanted to do right by Milton, as apparently, he grew up a Cowboys fan. That could mean the Patriots weren’t receiving the deals they wanted, so they sent him to the team that he wanted to go to.
From a Cowboys perspective, this is a great addition to provide better insurance for Dak Prescott. While Prescott is the long-term solution at quarterback, adding Milton to replace Cooper Rush as a backup for a cheap price is a great deal for them.
They also didn’t give up a lot in the process, swapping a fifth for a seventh. If they were bringing in Milton to be a starter, this would be a huge steal.
Without this deal, the Cowboys may have had to use significant draft capital to acquire a solid backup quarterback in what is considered a weak quarterback class this year.
Giving up a fifth for a quarterback who has already shown he can play in the NFL, albeit in a limited fashion, seems like the better option than forcing a quarterback in this year’s draft.
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Overall, both teams accomplished what they wanted to accomplish, but the final trade details are a bit surprising based on previous reports on the trade rumors. People expected the Patriots to get more than they did, but that does seem like it may have been unrealistic.
Trading a backup quarterback that was selected in the sixth round for a fifth is positive, even if it seemed like they could’ve gotten more while trading for a backup quarterback instead of selecting from a weak quarterback class is also a positive.
Patriots Grade: B-
Cowboys Grade: A
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