Patriots
“We felt like, just like every other decision, we were going to do what’s best for the team, and that’s the decision we ultimately made.”

FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots subtracted from their quarterback room earlier this month — trading Joe Milton III to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
While New England recouped a draft pick (No. 171 overall) higher up from where the team initially drafted Milton in the 2024 NFL Draft (No. 217), the case can be made that the Patriots could have secured an even larger haul for Milton — given the impressive performance he put forth against the Bills in the team’s regular-season finale in January (22-of-29, 241 yards, 2 total TDs, 0 interceptions).
But speaking on Tuesday at Gillette Stadium, Mike Vrabel stressed that the decision to move Milton rested in the fact that steady reps were not going to be guaranteed on this roster — especially with the continued emergence of Drake Maye.
“We felt like his reps were going to be decreased as we worked through the offseason,” Vrabel said. “We felt like, just like every other decision, we were going to do what’s best for the team, and that’s the decision we ultimately made. I’m excited to move forward with Drake (Maye) and Josh (Dobbs).”
Even with Milton’s stellar showing in Week 18, the Patriots were expected to move forward with Maye as the team’s QB1 after the 2024 first-round pick (No. 3 overall) impressed throughout the 2024 season.
New England also added a veteran QB in Josh Dobbs to serve as a valuable resource for Maye as he navigates his second full season in the NFL ranks.
With Maye atop the depth chart and Dobbs slotting in as the backup, the writing was on the wall that Milton was once again expected to spend a majority of the 2025 season as the No. 3 QB on New England’s roster.
Now with Dallas, Milton is expected to slot in as Dak Prescott’s backup, with an opportunity to earn more chances to start further down the road.
“From my rookie season I grew a lot, football is football at the end of the day, just having fun, enjoying the best thing I can do and that’s going out there and just having fun with it and enjoying my teammates, getting to learn people,” Milton said in his first press availability with Dallas earlier this month. “Here now, I’m a Cowboy now, being able to learn [from] my teammates and get to explore and experience different things with them.”
While the Patriots were clearly moving forward with Maye as the team’s starting QB in 2025, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran noted last week that Milton’s vocal sentiment about his ability to challenge Maye for the starting role in Foxborough also prompted New England to move quickly on a deal.
“From what we understood, it was more about Milton’s comfort level and self-perception relative to Maye,” Curran said on NBC Sports Boston’s Arbella Early Edition.
“He felt that as an older player than Drake Maye [Milton is three years older], he didn’t think that the disparity was that great between the two individuals. And he felt because of the final game of the season, it seems, that, ‘Hey man, maybe I should be getting a crack here.’”
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