Analyst names clear winner in Cowboys' trade for Patriots' Joe Milton III

On Thursday, the New England Patriots surprisingly agreed to trade backup quarterback Joe Milton III and a 2025 seventh-round draft pick to the Dallas Cowboys in return for a 2025 fifth-round choice.

Later in the day, ESPN's Seth Walder named the Cowboys the clear winner of that transaction.

"If the Patriots were going to move on from Milton," Walder said, "I thought they would get more than this. He was a sixth-round pick a year ago and — even with all the caveats of the circumstances of his one game — surely his stock has gone up since then, right? Instead, they got back only close to what they paid for him. Several teams will surely use a fifth- or sixth-round pick on shaky QB prospects later this month."

Milton became the subject of numerous trade rumors after he completed 22-of-29 passes for 241 yards with a touchdown against mostly backups in New England's Week 18 win over the Buffalo Bills this past January. The 25-year-old also rushed for 16 yards and a score on 10 carries in that contest.

As recently as Wednesday, it was suggested that the Patriots would hold onto Milton through the upcoming draft unless the club received a third-round pick for his services. After all, New England had him under contract for the next several seasons, and he could've given the club protection if first-choice starter Drake Maye became unavailable for any reason. 

"Perhaps new coach Mike Vrabel felt Milton's performance was a mirage and preferred the higher floor of the recently signed Joshua Dobbs as his backup option," Walder added about the Patriots' possible mindset. "Even if that's true, I still would have expected them to get a little more value for Milton. And in the absence of that, I'd rather roll the dice on him developing further."

On Thursday morning, Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported that "the Patriots had a better offer for Milton but chose to send him where he wanted out of respect for him." According to Schultz, the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers "showed interest" in Milton this offseason. 

Meanwhile, Milton will become a backup for a Dallas team that gave starter Dak Prescott a four-year contract extension reportedly worth $240M with $231M guaranteed this past September. It will likely be bad news for the Cowboys if Milton takes a meaningful in-game snap before 2026 as soon as possible.