The Philadelphia Eagles made a move to secure their backup quarterback position when they swapped former first round pick Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns as part of a trade that brought quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the defending Super Bowl champions.
The player the Eagles actually wanted may have been someone else entirely.
FOX Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported on April 3 that the Eagles were among a handful of teams who inquired about trading for New England Patriots backup quarterback Joe Milton, who was eventually dealt to the Dallas Cowboys.
“My understanding is since Joe Milton became available at the start of the offseason, teams that showed interest included the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, Steelers and the Cowboys,” Schultz wrote on his official X account. “The #Patriots had a better offer for Milton but chose to send him where he wanted out of respect for him, per source.”
Milton was deal to the Cowboys along with a 2025 seventh round pick in exchange for a 2025 fifth round pick.
Milton Became Odd Footnote in NFL History
Milton created his own market when he led the Patriots to a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills in the regular season finale — his only career start.
The playoff-bound Bills didn’t play most of their starters and Milton went 22-of-29 passing for 257 yards of total offense, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. While the game was meaningless in the standings, it was one that could very well change the course of NFL history depending how the next few years play out.
The Patriots entered the game with a 4-13 record and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. All they needed to do was lose. Instead, lame duck head coach Jerod Mayo was allowed to coach his final game, Milton got a pretty stellar audition for the other 31 teams in the league and the Tennessee Titans leapfrogged to the No. 1 pick. The Patriots dropped to the fourth pick.
Milton, 6-foot-5 and 248 pounds, was a sixth round pick (No. 193 overall) in the 2024 NFL draft, but was only a full time starter once over 6 seasons of college football at Michigan and Tennessee. In 2023, he threw for 2,769 yards, 20 touchdowns and 5 interceptions to go with 292 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns.
Eagles Have Incredible Stockpile of Draft Picks
It shouldn’t come as a surprise the Eagles were in the mix for Milton. In the 2025 and 2026 drafts, the Eagles have 20 total picks — 8 in 2025 and 12 in 2026 — with all the 2025 picks in the first five rounds.
Philadelphia still has a decent situation at backup quarterback behind Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts. Just like Milton in New England, third-year quarterback Tanner McKee made his lone career start in the 2024 regular season finale. With Hurts and Pickett were both injured, McKee threw for 269 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions in a 20-13 win over the New York Giants.
In 5 starts over the last 2 seasons for the Browns, Thompson-Robinson went 1-4 and threw for 880 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 interceptions while completing just 52.6 percent of his passes. He was also effective running the ball, with 35 carries for 187 yards and no touchdowns while averaging 5.3 yards per carry.
