Cowboys Camp — Sep 3: Milton Cut Monday, Back Wednesday

Our last episode closed on the question of who backs up Dak Prescott in Week 1, and said cut day had answered it by refusing to. Monday answered it. Dallas waived Joe Milton on August 31, per Tommy Yarrish at the team's site — the corresponding move for claiming running back Emari Demercado off Kansas City's cuts — and Sam Howell is the backup. Brian Schottenheimer, Tuesday, per Yarrish: "I think when we looked at the whole body of work, we just felt like Sam had done a little bit more in terms of executing the offense," and it was "a very, very hard decision." Then the second half. Milton cleared waivers on Tuesday, per Angel Torres at Cowboys Wire, and did not immediately re-sign. On Wednesday evening he agreed to return on the practice squad, per Josh Sanchez at Cowboys On SI — Jordan Schultz's report, via Randy Gurzi: "The talented 26-year-old drew interest from most NFL teams but wanted to stay in Dallas." Schottenheimer, the same Tuesday: "There was definitely people interested in Joe." Three quarterbacks Sunday, two on the 53 by Monday, and the third back in the building by Wednesday.

Howell, on Wednesday, per Yarrish: "It's been a lot of hard work, and the work doesn't stop now." And on backing up: "I've been a lot of different places and I've backed up a lot of different guys and everybody's kind of different." He said he would ask them what they need from him through the week. One nit on the page from our last episode: Howell's finale line — two touchdowns, a hundred and 55 yards — also included an interception, per Kurt Daniels' recap, which we omitted.

The claim that started it: Demercado, three seasons in Arizona under Klayton Adams, now the Cowboys' offensive coordinator, who called him the moment the claim was official, per Patrik Walker at the team's site. Demercado: "Getting cut — nobody's excited about that, but to get the call that I was coming back here, I just bought a house here this summer, so I couldn't have written it better." He slots in as the third back behind Javonte Williams and Malik Davis, per Walker — the room we told you was down to two after three drafted backs were waived. Israel Abanikanda, one of the three, is on the practice squad. The other two are not: Jaydon Blue, the hundred-40-ninth pick in 2025, cleared waivers unclaimed and signed with Philadelphia's practice squad, per Adam Schefter via Levi Dombro at The Landry Hat, and Phil Mafah has no reported destination. Schottenheimer, per Walker: "It's hard to see both Jaydon and Phil go, but I really do think those guys are both landing good opportunities."

Broderick Jones got his assignment. Schottenheimer, per Mike Moraitis at Cowboys On SI: "When we made the trade, the first thing I did was I reached out to Terence Steele and told Terence that Broderick is coming here to compete with him to be the starting right tackle." And, in the same remarks: "We're not going to move Broderick around." Patrik Walker's reporting has Jones taking no snaps at all on the left side, which protects Tyler Guyton — Schottenheimer again: "He's done an awesome job and I wanted to make sure that he knew very clearly that this does not affect him." He called the tackle arrangement "a 1A and 1B situation." And on Monday, the same day, Dallas signed tackle Wanya Morris to the practice squad off Atlanta's cuts, per Mike Garafolo via Dombro — 25, a former third-round pick with 16 NFL starts. Steele has competition at right tackle now, and depth behind it.

Where the rest of Sunday's cuts landed: guard Trevor Keegan was claimed by Minnesota on Monday, per the Vikings' announcement, and safety Julius Wood by Miami on the same waiver run, per Nick Eatman at the team's site. Tackle Nathan Thomas went to Houston in Sunday's trade. Cornerback Zion Childress signed to Carolina's practice squad and cornerback Trikweze Bridges to Cincinnati's, per Gurzi. And edge rusher Sam Williams, released Sunday on a guaranteed deal, signed with Cleveland on Tuesday — the Browns' own announcement puts him on their active roster with a number, per the team; Eatman's account had him headed for their practice squad. Nobody else from Sunday — Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Tyler Johnson, Mafah — has a reported destination.

The practice squad, per the team's roster. On offense: running back Israel Abanikanda, receiver Jordan Hudson — waived after a four-catch, 97-yard finale and kept — receiver Anthony Smith, the team's own 200-eighteenth pick this year, tight ends Michael Trigg, the expectation we flagged, met, and Mitch Van Vooren, guard Nick Leverett, and tackles Marcellus Johnson and Morris. On defense: defensive tackles Tommy Dunn, Elijah Garcia with 17 games and three starts, and Adedayo Odeleye, who fills the international player spot, per Cody Warren at Inside The Star; defensive end Isaiah Land; linebackers Justin Barron — waived with no reporting on his evaluation's outcome, and there is still none — and Curtis Robinson; and cornerbacks Derion Kendrick and Reddy Steward, a candidate for game-day elevations at nickel, per Romell Williams at Athlon. 16 on the team's own roster this morning, with Milton still carried in the waived column rather than the practice-squad one. Warren's read on the group: "The Cowboys, somewhat quietly, put together a practice squad that has several useful players who could easily see minutes in the regular season."

Two of Sunday's placements still stand: outside linebacker Marist Liufau, with a fractured forearm that needed surgery, and rookie cornerback Devin Moore, both on injured reserve with return designations — Moore's injury is reported two ways, and we are naming neither. Ameer Speed, signed in June after a minicamp tryout, made the 53 as the fourth corner ahead of Moore, "perhaps the most surprising inclusion on the initial 53," per Jerry Trotta at The Landry Hat. Shane Taylor at Inside The Star reads the depth behind DaRon Bland, Shavon Revel and Cobie Durant as the room's one glaring issue and expects an addition before the opener.

Back in July we previewed Dallas as the widest gap in football — a top-five offense welded to a dead-last defense that managed 11 takeaways all season — with the whole offseason budget spent on the broken half. The numbers hold on both sides. Last season Dallas was fifth in expected points added per play on offense, the measure of how much each snap moved the expected score, and 30-second on defense; 11 takeaways, tied for thirtieth with Washington, with only the Jets below them. Cut day kept spending on the broken half. This week was the offense tidying its own margins — a third back off the wire, a third quarterback parked on the practice squad, a right tackle competition declared — while the defense's only news was that its depth chart at corner is thin. The July read holds. The gap is the same gap.

Next is the Giants, Sunday, September 13, at MetLife Stadium. What to watch: whether Jones or Steele starts at right tackle, and whether Dallas adds a corner before the opener. The Recap follows the game.

_Data via nflverse._