Milton returns to Dallas: ex-Tennessee QB lands on Cowboys practice squad after waiver

Former Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III is staying in Dallas. One day after the Cowboys waived him at the end of the preseason, the club brought him back onto its practice squad, preserving a quarterback it had showcased during exhibition play.

Milton, who threw for three touchdowns in a preseason outing earlier this month, spent three seasons with the Vols from 2021 through 2023, appearing in 29 games before entering the professional ranks.

Dallas also added another familiar SEC name to its developmental roster. Offensive lineman Wanya Morris, who played at Tennessee in 2019 and 2020 before transferring to Oklahoma, signed with the Cowboys after previously being dealt from Kansas City to Atlanta earlier in the year.

The rest of the practice squad features a wide range of college backgrounds, including running back Israel Abanikanda (Pittsburgh), defensive back Reddy Steward (Troy), linebacker Justin Barron (Syracuse), defensive tackle Tommy Dunn (Kansas), wide receivers Jordan Hudson (SMU) and Anthony Smith (ECU), offensive tackle Marcellus Johnson (Missouri), defensive back Derion Kendrick (Georgia), tight ends Michael Trigg (Baylor) and Mitch Van Vooren (St. Norbert), linebackers Isaiah Land (Florida A&M) and Curtis Robinson (Stanford), center Nick Leverett (Rice), defensive tackle Elijah Garcia (Rice), and defensive tackle Adedayo Odeleye.

The Cowboys open the regular season on Sept. 13 with an NFC East road matchup against the New York Giants. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is set for 8:20 p.m. EDT, with the game airing nationally on NBC, the broadcast network owned by Comcast. Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), a communication-services company, traded at $26.65 in recent activity, down 0.86% from its previous close of $26.88, with a market capitalization of roughly $94.4 billion.

Practice squad signings like these give Dallas flexibility as rosters settle heading into Week 1, and the quick re-signing of Milton suggests the team wanted to keep his arm in the building despite the waiver move.

What to watch

• Whether Milton or Morris is elevated from the practice squad to the active game-day roster during the season.
• Additional roster moves as the Cowboys finalize preparations for the Sept. 13 opener against the Giants.
• Dallas’s quarterback depth chart usage once the regular season begins.

Source: original release