The reason Patriots made Cowboys trade when they did

Not many New England Patriots fans were happy with the haul the team received for trading Joe Milton III to the Dallas Cowboys. Despite rumors of the team seeking a third-round pick in return, the Cowboys merely forked over a fifth-round pick to acquire the 6-foot-5 athletic gunslinger. However, many feel the timing of the trade is not a coincidence.

While a Milton trade felt inevitable due to his sharing of a draft class with Drake Maye, it deliberately came right before the Patriots' voluntary sessions, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. New head coach Mike Vrabel sees those training sessions as a “meaningful checkpoint” of the offseason, making Reiss believe it is a potential reason for the trade.

“The timing [of the Joe Milton trade], according to a source familiar with the team's thinking, wasn't a coincidence,” Reiss wrote. “Monday marks the start of the team's voluntary program, and Vrabel views that as a meaningful checkpoint in the process of establishing team culture and the dynamic that ideally unfolds within each position group.”

Many see the trade as the Patriots putting their full faith in Maye, who is coming off an impressive rookie campaign. However, some also see it as a potential sell-high moment, given Milton's boom-or-bust skill set.

Joe Milton's well-traveled career moves from Patriots to Cowboys

While Milton would have been a nice long-term backup behind Maye, many fans see the potential in him to possibly grow into a larger role. He has a chance to do that with the Cowboys, where he will work behind the older, injury-prone Dak Prescott.

The Cowboys have no reason to replace Prescott just yet, but their franchise quarterback is coming off a hamstring injury that limited him to just eight games in 2024. Dallas' previous longtime backup, Cooper Rush, signed with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency, essentially giving Milton the backup job.

Milton's trade sends him on another path in what is already an eventful career. The former four-star recruit began his college career at Michigan before transferring to Tennessee after three years. He spent another three seasons with the Volunteers before entering the 2024 NFL Draft, where the Patriots took him in the sixth round. Now, one year into his professional career, Milton is already onto his second NFL team.