Patriots Trade Milton to Cowboys, Team Gets Puzzling Return on the Deal

There had been talks recently about teams inquiring about quarterback Joe Milton, and the Patriots ended up pulling the trigger on a deal for the former sixth-round pick on Thursday.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots have agreed to terms on a trade with the Dallas Cowboys for Milton. Schefter reports that the deal includes Milton and a 7th-round selection, in exchange for the Cowboys’ 5th-round compensatory pick.

That feels like a curious return for a player with a lot of upside. Given the apparent demand, the Patriots seemingly shouldn’t have had to give up a draft pick at all and one would have thought that the deal should have been for more. Milton was still under contract for three more seasons, and the Patriots certainly could have – and should have – been fine with having two solid players in their QB room. However, some additional details have shed a bit more light on the deal.

Both Mark Daniels and Karen Guregian reported this week that Milton reportedly wanted out of New England, expressing a desire to have an opportunity to compete for a starting role. With both Drake Maye and Josh Dobbs in the fold, the likelihood of Milton becoming the starter here in New England was low. At best, he would have been in a competition to be the backup, so a trade seemed to be the best option, provided it was in the team’s best interest.

However, what’s interesting is the compensation. Reports have said that the Patriots had better offers, but that the club made the move to try and do right by a player who, by all accounts, has done everything he’s been asked to do.

Vrabel actually talked about Milton this week, praising Milton’s work ethic while sounding like a trade was certainly possible.

“Yeah, I think Joe did everything that they asked him to do last year,” said Vrabel. “It sounds like in conversations that he worked extremely hard and that’s tough when you’re a quarterback. Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to be the starter, and that’s great to have that attitude. He was ready for his opportunity there late in the season, which I commend him on, just like I would any player that sat there and went through a long season, a difficult season, and then got the opportunity, went out, won a football game, played well, helped his team win.”

“Then where that leads to, we’ll see as the draft approaches or where Joe is on April seventh to start our offseason program. But you have to give Joe credit for being ready to go, going from the third quarterback to being able to win that football game and stay ready and stay hungry.”

Mike Reiss of ESPN also reported that the timing sort of reveals that this also might have had to do with the dynamics in the quarterback room. It sounds like removing Milton from the mix might have eliminated a squeaky wheel in a room that now has both Maye and newly signed veteran Josh Dobbs.

Needless to say, it sounds like Milton might have been reaching a point where his frustration could have been spilling over, and the team instead tried to make an addition by subtraction. The only downside is that given that they invested a sixth round pick, the combination of losing a 7th and gaining a 5th doesn’t exactly put them ahead of things. Especially given the investment they made from both a time and financial standpoint.

Meanwhile, it sounds like there definitely were some teams interested, although it’s not known what the other offers were. Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported that other teams who were in the mix with Dallas were the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, and Steelers.

For now, the Patriots have another chip to use in the coming weeks as the Draft edges closer. It’s just unfortunate that, given the reported interest in Milton, the compensation wasn’t a little better.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.

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Tags: Dallas Cowboys Joe Milton New England Patriots Patriots Transactions