NEXT MOVE: Will Cowboys EXTEND Dak Prescott? | What Can We Expect From Prescott In 2026?

Summary

Podcast Summary: Locked On Cowboys – Will the Cowboys Extend Dak Prescott? (May 14, 2026)

Episode Overview

Hosts Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool dive deep into Dak Prescott's future with the Dallas Cowboys, tackling the complexities of his contract, his evolving skill set, and the team’s options moving forward as they approach a critical decision point. The episode explores the financial and football reasoning behind a possible extension, what to expect from Prescott in the coming years, and how the Cowboys might navigate the backup quarterback position.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Contract Conundrum: Should the Cowboys Extend Dak Now?

[01:13]–[04:09]

• Context: Dak is entering the second year of his new contract, with massive cap hits looming in 2027 and 2028.
• Marcus Mosher: Advocates for a proactive approach to a possible extension, pointing to the rising salary cap and looming untenable cap numbers. “If you're not gonna do that, you need to have some kind of plan in place, right?... We've seen Dak’s peak; we haven’t seen the decline quite yet.” (03:47)
• Landon McCool: Highlights how an extension could lower the near-term cap hits and help extend the team's window: “His cap percentages in 2027 is 23.2% and 24.4% in 2028. That’s going to be his age-35 season. ...If you give him an extension...you could push those cap numbers down.” (04:09)
• Key Consideration: Dak’s mobility has declined, raising questions about long-term value.

2. Prescott’s Evolution as a Quarterback

[05:39]–[07:29]

• Mosher: Argues Dak’s transition into a more cerebral, pocket quarterback augurs well for his longevity: “He’s operating basically as a pocket quarterback... he’s an incredibly cerebral quarterback. His game is a little more pre-snap and cerebral, and that’s his saving grace.” (05:39)
• Landon: Credits improvement in Prescott’s footwork and pocket presence to coaching changes: “McCarthy... cleaned up Dak’s footwork... Dak accelerated himself to being one of the top pocket operators in the NFL.” (06:52)

3. The Road Ahead: Extension or Off Ramp?

[07:29]–[09:46]

• Landon: Outlines a logic for letting the contract play out as protection against a possible decline: “If you haven’t gotten over the hump at that point, it’s fair to wonder, will you ever?” (07:29)
• Marcus: Open to either scenario — a short extension or starting over — depending on the next two seasons: “If they decided to get the deal done early...I think we’re still kind of in a window...anything beyond that, I don’t know if the juice is worth the squeeze.” (08:16)
• Discusses how team results in 2026 will dictate whether to offer Dak an extension or plan a reset.

4. What Would a Proactive Front Office Do?

[10:11]–[11:16]

• Landon: Suggests a proactive front office would seek an extension now to manage cap hits, but expresses skepticism: “Proactive is not one of [the Cowboys’] things.” (10:11)
• Points out Prescott himself may ultimately want to move on, likening his future possible path to Matt Stafford or Peyton Manning: “Maybe two years from now, he’s ready for a change of scenery...” (10:53)

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Expecting Dak in 2026: Playing Style and Expectations

[14:32]–[19:28]

• Marcus: Expects MVP-level play from Dak for 2026, given the weapons and continuity in the offense: “I feel as confident about Dak Prescott in the passing game as I ever have...top of the league passing offense type of expectations.” (14:32)
• Landon: Poses a strategic question — what style of Dak best helps the team? “Is it in their best interest to play fast-paced, score 35 points a game? Or are they better off playing ball control, like the 2014 version of Romo?” (15:57)
• The hosts agree Dak can effectively run both styles but note his best football comes in more chaotic, up-tempo situations — sometimes a double-edged sword due to its impact on the defense.
  • Landon: “Daks best football honestly comes when it's way more chaotic... he's a much better quarterback when he's playing this fast-break style…” (18:33)
  • Marcus: Warns against relying on Dak to play high-variance, high-tempo football all the time: “Just use him when you need him for that, and the rest of the time, have the infrastructure to lean on the run game and pass protection.” (19:52)

Building Around Dak: Offensive Line Impact

[21:08]–[21:43]

• Investing in O-line (e.g., Tyler Booker) to support more efficient, methodical drives: “If they can flip it and run well on early downs...that's how you're going to get the best version of Dak and the team.” (21:08)

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The Backup Quarterback Dilemma

[23:39]–[27:53]

• Situation: Joe Milton struggled in preseason but flashed potential, while Sam Howell was brought in with guaranteed money.
• Marcus: Both backups bring different strengths — Howell is more reliable and experienced; Milton is a “gamer” but inconsistent.
  • "Every time you think you're out on Joe Milton, he does something to pull you back in." (24:14)
• Landon: Skeptical Milton is a long-term solution. “I just don't see a world in which Joe Milton is the next quarterback up for the Cowboys long term.” (26:35)
• The likely outcome: Howell as the primary backup (“point guard” style) and Milton as developmental QB3, unless Milton takes a big leap in camp.
• Marcus: The backup choice could depend on how the rest of the offense and defense look. A stronger, balanced team means a safer backup suffices; a weaker one may need a high-variance playmaker as backup. (27:21)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

“We've seen Dak's peak. We haven't, I don't think, seen the decline quite yet.”
— Marcus Mosher [03:47]

“If you give him an extension, give him more guaranteed money up front, you could push those cap numbers down, and that would really extend your window for the next couple years.”
— Landon McCool [04:09]

“He’s operating basically as a pocket quarterback at this point… he’s an incredibly cerebral quarterback. And that's actually where I think that's his saving grace.”
— Marcus Mosher [05:39]

“McCarthy... cleaned up Dak’s footwork... Dak accelerated himself to being one of the top pocket operators in the NFL.”
— Landon McCool [06:52]

“Daks best football honestly comes when it's way more chaotic … when he's playing this fast-break style of offense.”
— Landon McCool [18:33]

“Every time that you think that you're out on Joe Milton, he does something to pull you back in.”
— Marcus Mosher [24:14]

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Important Timestamps

• [01:13] Introduction of Dak contract discussion
• [03:47] Dak’s performance peak and injury considerations
• [04:09] Cap hits and extension strategic logic
• [07:29] Would it be smart to let the contract play out?
• [08:16] Short-term extension vs. full reset discussion
• [10:11] The front office’s reputation for proactivity, or lack thereof
• [14:32] What do we expect from Dak in 2026?
• [15:57] Fast paced vs. ball control offense debate
• [18:33] Dak’s effectiveness in chaos/tempo offense
• [21:08] Impact of O-line health and investments
• [23:39] Backup QB battle: Sam Howell vs. Joe Milton
• [24:14] Joe Milton’s “gamer” element
• [26:35] Milton’s long-term outlook and Howell’s likely role

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Summary Takeaways

• The next two years will define Dak’s future — whether the Cowboys extend Prescott or let his contract expire for a possible reset.
• Prescott’s cerebral development gives him better longevity, even with diminished mobility.
• The ideal scenario: A short extension to bridge until a natural off ramp appears in 2028, unless performance declines or the team needs a complete reset.
• For 2026, MVP-level play is expected, but the team must find the right offensive balance to best support results.
• Backup QB situation is likely Sam Howell as QB2, with Joe Milton as a developmental QB3—unless Milton forces a change in camp.

This episode serves as a comprehensive primer for fans wondering what to expect from Prescott – and the Cowboys’ QB room – in the coming years.

Transcript

[Marcus Mosher]

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[Landon McCool]

Dak Prescott is coming off a monster season, but when will the Cowboys look for their next quarterback? We'll talk about that more next. You are Locked on Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network your team every day. Welcome back. I am your host Marcus Mosher. He is Lana McCool. And on today's show we are discussing Dak Prescott, the Cowboys franchise quarterback. Oddly enough, Landon we don't talk, we don't talk about that as much as we should. We talk about basically every other position and player on the roster because we kind of know what Dak is at this point. He's a very, very good quarterback. But I wanted to ask you a little bit about the long term future here because Albert Breer from SI wrote an article about how the Cowboys could look to do a contract extension with Prescott this offseason. He signed a new deal in 2024. Obviously he's going into believe I think this is year two of the new year of the new deal, but with massive cap numbers in 2027 and 2028. Does it make sense sense to give him an extension now?

[Marcus Mosher]

I yeah, I mean I certainly think it, it can make some sense. I mean, honestly, you know, we've talked about the fact that this is kind of a window that he's in right now and a lot of that has been based on the contract and the numbers that are, that are involved there. You know, the question becomes like, how contentious is this whole situation going to be, right? Like if, if they feel like they can come to the table and get a number quickly going, you know, a little bit sooner than the process has taken traditionally between these sides, then I do think that it would make sense to kind of preemptively proactively go to DAX team and start laying the groundwork for a new deal, just simply because we've seen that the cap explode a lot. And, you know, his number next year is pretty untenable. So I think there is certainly some sense that would make. That would be there. Otherwise, like, if. If you're not gonna do that, you need to have some kind of plan in place, right? Like a plan to start, you know, building towards a replacement or moving on towards that situation. I think as it stands right now, we haven't seen. We haven't seen the kind of. We've seen DAX peak. We haven't, I don't think, seen the decline quite yet.

[Landon McCool]

No.

[Marcus Mosher]

So I, I think since we have come this far, to me, at least one more extension does make some sense, maybe more sense than it felt like two or three years ago when, you know, we were seeing a lot of kind of injury stuff. And, and, and. And you weren't exactly sure if. If he was always going to be kind of dealing with something at certain points. Right.

[Landon McCool]

Well, and the reason why you consider it an extension now is because that way it would allow you to push some. Some more money into the future. Because right Now, Dak has $45 million guaranteed left on his contract in 2027 and nothing beyond that. However, his cap percentages in 2027 is 23.2% of the cap and 24.4% of the cap during the 2028 season. That's going to be his age, 35 season, and then he accounts for another 18 million in 2029 and 7.6 million in 2030 when he was not on the roster. Right. So the idea is, if you give him an extension, give him more guaranteed money up front, you could push those cap numbers down, and that would really extend your window for the next couple years. It gives you a better chance in 2027 and 2028, and you keep them on the roster. But I think a couple questions I have are, number one, we have seen a decline in the rushing ability and the mobility. Like, he's just not the same athlete that he even was five years ago. How much of that is going to continue to decrease? And we know that these quarterbacks do start to fall off when they get to be 36, 37 years old. He doesn't have the arm strength of, like, A Matt Stafford where I think he's going to be able to, you know, I think Stafford can play until he's 42 years old. what point does that cliff happen for Dak?

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, I mean, I think the athletic part of it has already been mostly extracted from his game. Right. Like, I mean, he's, he's operating basically as a, as a pocket quarterback at this point. And, and really, if anything, he's an incredibly cerebral quarterback.

[Landon McCool]

Yes.

[Marcus Mosher]

And that's actually where I think that's his saving grace is. You're right, he doesn't necessarily have the Matt Stafford arm, but I also don't think that his arm has fallen off really from where it was. And I, I also think that because his game is a little bit more, you know, pre snap and cerebral, that, and since it's kind of transitioned that way, he's extended the window of his being a viable starting quarterback a little bit more. So I, I, I do think that, like I said, because of those things and because of the ability to kind of operate a little bit better without, you know, taking injury or at least the sign that that can happen. Right. I think that it made the, the viability of, of re signing him to an extension a little bit more, you know, palatable than it was previous to this when you felt like his game hadn't quite transitioned the way it has. Look, we, we, we can certainly make fun of Mike McCarthy for suggesting that he's the one or whatever. We were hearing that, that Mike McCarthy was the one who brought out Dak Prescott or whatever. But the one thing I will say is that he did clean up Dax footwork enough to the point or at least was part of the team that cleaned up his footwork point where Dak, you know, accelerated himself to being one of the top pocket operators in, in the NFL. And I do think that that growth in his game is going to serve him to help extend the longevity of his career.

[Landon McCool]

I agree with you, but I also understand, I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand the counterpoint of why not just let this year and next year play out. That'd be his age, 33 and 34 seasons, and then in 2028, there's no guaranteed money left on his contract. You could trade him before June 1, save 30 million on the cap, and that would kind of be like the natural off ramp. I still believe Dak Prescott's going to be a good quarterback in 2028, but if you haven't kind of gotten over the hump at that point, it is fair to wonder, like, will you ever get over it and why not leave yourself that out in case either he gets banged up or that big decrease in play happens over the next two years.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, I mean, look, honestly, like, I mean, if anything, I was arguing the other way a while ago. Right. Like, I mean, saying that, that the Cowboys should figure out a reset, that they need to kind of start fresh at a certain point. Point. And I think Dak has gone out and kind of proven me wrong to a certain degree. And, and not that I'm fully back on board with the other way. I, I just feel like it's a lot more open and, and I'm, I'm a lot more open to what happens based on what we see this year and maybe next year. Right. If they decided to get the deal done early because they could agree to an extension in a kind of non contentious way, you add maybe two years to his deal, I think we're still kind of in a window in which I'm not like audibly, you know, sucking in air between my teeth when I hear something like that. He's not that old yet. Right. But I think anything beyond that, like a four year deal or a really long deal, like, I think, you know, I don't know if the juice is worth the squeeze on what you're going to pay him big time money for a long term deal, two more years. I think I feel good just based on what we've seen of Dak, that he can achieve that, that he'll be this level of Dak for a couple more years. And look, if, if, you know, if you get through this season and you get into a situation where you're in the playoffs and it's Dak that's the problem, that, that's the issue there and you really just feel like, hey, it's time to start fresh. I'm also not going to poo poo that move right now because I do feel like it is a little bit. They're kind of at a weird nexus right now where they are in their team building. So if they decided to kind of use this opportunity to start the rebuild at the quarterback position, as they are, you know, a little bit more accelerated in the offense and they're rebuilding the defense, I, I think that that makes some timeline sense as well.

[Landon McCool]

My thought is we're going to know one way or another after the 2026 season. I think a proactive front office would try to get a deal done to lower that cap hit, but I don't Think that's the Cowboys. Listen, there are a lot of things. Proactive is not one of them. Right. And also, I don't know that Dak is going to be in a rush, because I could see Dak being, you know, feeling good about where he's at in his contract. And maybe two years from now, he's going to be ready for a change of scenery, much like a Matt Stafford was at that stage of his career, or even a Peyton Manning was going from Indianapolis to Denver. But I do think we're going to know, like, if. If they make the playoffs this year, they lose in round one, but the defense is clearly improved and the offense was just as good. It makes all the sense in the world to run it back and maybe try to give him another extension to lower that cap hit. But if they're 7 and 10 again and the defense feels like it's still multiple years away and the offense declines a little bit, that's where I could see the Cowboys start planning for an off ramp here.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, I mean, look, I think it's. This is why this is a big season. Right. This is why we've talked about it. Like, things lining up for this year is that they've got some decisions to make. They're kind of at that nexus point where they need to make a decision about Dax Prescott. They've got a decision to make on a couple of different areas at the end of this year. So the results are gonna play heavily into the route that they take after the season.

[Landon McCool]

All right, so let's talk about Dak going into the 2026 season. What do we expect from the cowboy signal caller? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by game time. We can stream anything, order food minutes, do everything from our phones, and yet somehow buying tickets to live events still feels way harder than it should be. Long lines, confusing checkouts, prices jumping at the last second. It shouldn't be that complicated, but that's why there's game time. It gives it the. The fans the advantage, and it makes getting tickets fast and simple. I was just looking up some tickets for a Pirates game that we're going to go to here in June. We use the zone deals, which is incredible because all you do is you pick the section and you let game time choose your seats, and you save so much money. Two taps and you have great seats locked in. It's quick, it's easy, and it actually makes you want to go to more events. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets to every type of event with game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use promo code locked on for $20 off. Your first purchase terms apply again, create an account, redeem promo code locked on for $20 off and download the GameTime app today. This episode is brought to you by Square. The the system that helps fix one of the biggest headaches in running a business Starting a business is exciting, but actually running it, that's where things get complicated fast. Payments, inventory, staff scheduling, online orders. It's a lot to manage, but that's why Square brings everything together in one connected system. Square helps you track payments, take sales, all that kind of stuff, manage inventory and keep your business running smoothly without juggling a bunch of disconnected tools. And the things that out to me is how smooth the process is. There is a coffee shop just down the road from my house that uses Square. It's so convenient. It makes the whole process so simple. So if you're starting a business or you're running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, manage and grow without slowing down. Right now you can get $200 off square hardware at square.com go sl loton NFL that's square.com go/lockon NFL welcome back to the Laton Cowboys Podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Don't forget to check out the everyday club where you can get ad free episodes of the Laton Cowboys podcast. Just go to laton cowboys supercast.com to join the club. All right, Landon, let's talk about Dak going into this year. Not long term, but just this year. What are we expecting from the team's franchise quarterback?

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, I mean MVP levels, numbers like that's the I mean he's being paid like the best quarterback in football. He's got two wide receivers that he has some chemistry with. Now obviously they put up huge numbers last year. They were number one in in multiple categories as an offense, certainly top five in in most passing categories. I, I think that it's not unrealistic with all that you've provided to that specific and this is honestly the reason we don't talk about this very much is because I feel as confident about Dak Prescott in the passing game as I a, as I ever have and b certainly more than almost any other aspect of this football team. I, I think, I think he's going to come in here and I think a lot of times regression can creep into some of these situations. Think that there's some positive regression on the Offense in terms of health of the offensive line and, and now you actually have some, some opportunity. You've had more time to work with George Pickens. You know exactly who he is. You got a second year offensive coordinator. So I, I, yeah, I have high expectations for Dak Prescott and, and I, top of the league passing offense type of expectations for Dak Prescott in this offense. And I, and I think it's totally fair to have those based on, you know, again, all the resources that we've provided for him and, and all the money that he's getting paid.

[Landon McCool]

The only thing that I'm struggling with is what version of Dak Prescott would be the best to help this team win? Because I, I don't disagree with you. I think Dak could be an MVP candidate this year if he wanted to and the team wanted him to. They've got the weapons. Dak can be one of these guys that can score 33 points a game. Like, I have no doubt about that. But is it in their team's best interest to play this fast paced style of offense where you're trying to score 35 points every single game? I know that sounds crazy to say, well, why wouldn't you Want to score 35 points? Or are they better off playing a More like the 2014 version of Romo where it's ball control, hyper efficient long drives to keep the defense off the field?

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean, I certainly think that Dak can play either of those games.

[Landon McCool]

100 just, just.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yes. I think there's something to the idea that, like, look, I mean, again, I've been doing kind of a very casual re watch of the, of, of these, of the games and it's hard to shake the feeling that they're kind of con. Despite being an extremely good offense, that they're kind of constantly flying by the seat of their pants at times, right? Where it's like they'll, they'll get down to the red zone and then they'll shoot themselves in the foot and then

[Landon McCool]

it's like the weirdest play calls you've ever seen.

[Marcus Mosher]

And it's like 3rd and 25 and they score a touchdown, right? Like, it's like what? But they do it consistently. There's so many different times when you're like, even just go watch highlights, like just go watch the 20, 26 highlights and notice what the, the down and distance is on the plays that they're. It's like 3rd and 10. It's like 3rd and 12. You know, it's so I do think that the Cowboys would have a more stable winning situation if they were more of a balanced team like you talked about with a very efficient passing game. I think the problem is is that A their defense has not allowed them to kind of play that sort of game because they're constantly playing from behind and having to press the pedal of the metal and B, I think that there has been some offensive line continuity and just some general kind of disrupt, disruptiveness in the lineup of the offense throughout the season which caught, I think caused a lot of pre snap penalties, a lot of kind of confusion in certain situations. So that ended up just having to be made up by the fact that George Pickens and CD Lamb are very good at football and Dak Prescott can throw the football to them. So if they could clean that up, that's a better approach for winning, I think.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, and I, I agree with you. I, I think the ideal way for the Cowboys to play is be efficient but methodical. Right. However, I think Dax best football honestly comes when it's way more chaotic and it's a little bit more herky jerky. I honestly, the best way I can describe it is watch the second half of the Green Bay game this year. Like they were really bad in the first half of that game, but things sped up, you know, in that game it became super fast paced and Dak actually settled down. He just, he's a much better quarterback when he's playing this fast break style of offense, but at the same time that exposes your defense to more possessions and more snaps. I don't know. It's going to be a really tough balancing act for Brian Schottenheimer and the coaching staff to figure out what's the best version of the offense that's actually going to help them win.

[Marcus Mosher]

Here's what it is, right? In order to kind of play the more efficient slow paced offense and, and, and to play that consistently and do what you need to do, you need to have a more balanced team, right. Dak can do, Dak can do the fast paced thing by himself. I mean, not by himself. Dak, he needs CD and Pickens. Well, I'm saying not even that he,

[Landon McCool]

that Packer game he didn't have CD or an offensive line and they put up 40 points.

[Marcus Mosher]

And, and I think that's the point, right is is when you're doing the quick game stuff, it's high leverage because obviously things can go wrong when you're moving fast. But it also doesn't put you into a situation where Dax taking a bunch of hits or Having to rely on the offensive line to block for long periods of time when he's able to just play quick distribution game. And he's one of the few quarterbacks in the league that can do it. Honestly, at this point it's not. It's a skill that's, that's lost on a lot of these younger players. The, the point is, is that we shouldn't make him have to play that way all the time. It's a lot like this sweaty Dak thing, right? Like just don't, don't make him sw. Like just have him play a kind of even keel game game. And then when you need him in high leverage moments, he can produce, but don't make him play full deck the whole game, start to start to the finish. Like it's just, it's gonna increase the amount of things that can go wrong. Exactly. Just use him when you need him for that and then the rest of the time have the, the kind of infrastructure in the offense that allows you to lean on the run game, lean on pass protection so you can be more efficient and not have to press and throw into double coverage because you have to make a play because that's the only guy that's open and you're running out of time because your blocking's not working.

[Landon McCool]

I think that's what the Cowboys were trying to accomplish when they drafted like Tyler Booker in round one to pair with Tyler Smith. Like have these games start off with these eight, nine minute drives where they're just chewing up the clock, gaining five yards on every single run. They were able to do it at times last year, but a lot of times it was because teams were expecting the pass and you were running on them when they weren't expecting it. If they can flip it and run well on early downs and early in the game, that's how I think you're going to get the best version of Dak and that's how you're going to get the best version of those Cowboys team.

[Marcus Mosher]

It's harder to see because it's kind of a hidden part of football, but the offensive line was not what it was supposed to be last year because of injuries a lot. If they're able to stay healthy and be the kind of dominant force that we've invested in, this offense is going to go to a whole nother level.

[Landon McCool]

All right, let's talk about the backup quarterback options in Dallas because they have two at least intriguing players right now. We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Rocket money. If you ever opened your bank account and thought, where did all my money go? You're not alone. Keeping track of subscriptions, spending and bills can get overwhelming fast. And that's where Rocket Money comes in, helping you take control of your finances all in one place. It tracks your subscriptions in one spot and can help you cancel the ones that you don't need in just a few tabs. And you can set budgets, get alerts, and stay on top of upcoming bills. It just makes everything feel more organized and and gives you a cleaner picture of your finances day to day. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower your bills so that you can actually grow your savings. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. [e-mail] Locked on that's RocketMoney.com Locked On

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[Landon McCool]

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[Landon McCool]

Welcome back to the Loton Cowboys Podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Landon Last year Joe Milton was the backup quarterback and it was really rough in the preseason. Honestly, it was awful to watch. And then he gets into the regular season and he doesn't look half bad. However, the Cowboys also went out and signed Sam Howell. Gave him some guaranteed money this off season as well. He's bounced around the league since being drafted by Washington. Who do you think ends up being the backup quarterback this year? Because it's really important given Dak Prescott's injury history.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah, it's interesting question because I do wonder. Look, I wonder if there is like a very specific plan for both of these guys, right? Both the backup guys, right. Because Sam Howell obviously has a lot of experience. He's he, I mean he was a starter at certain points for the Commanders. He's bounced around a little bit, but I mean he's produced in games as the starting quarterback sometimes at a surprising levels, let's say. He certainly has looked terrible at times as well. There's a reason that he isn't a starting quarterback currently. I think With Milton, you know, you still see, you know, what you want to develop a little bit. Every single time that you're out, it's, it's the classic Godfather, right. Every time that you think that you're out on Joe Milton, he does something to pull you back in. And, and it's, it's frustrating. Right. And I think what he needs still more than anything is snaps to kind of continue to develop. And, and I do think that, like, look, if you want to continue to work on it, if you could get Joe Milton to a spot, like he has this talent and the skill set to, to be a starting quarterback, if you can hone that, he has that kind of physical skill. But it, it requires a lot of snaps. It's taking a lot longer than you think. And there clearly seems to be a gamer element to his, to his situation. Which reminds me, by the way, coaches

[Landon McCool]

hate players that are awful in practice in preseason, but get out on the field and play well because, and can't trust them.

[Marcus Mosher]

Yeah. And beyond that too, it hurts your practice. Right. Like, you need to have quality guys who are not air mailing passes in practice all the time. And this was Dak Prescott, guys. Like, I'm here to tell you, like, I was out on those practice fields when, before Keller broke his leg or whatever it was and Dak was, was

[Landon McCool]

hitting targets about, he was behind Jamil Showers at the time.

[Marcus Mosher]

That's right. Who, who, you know, they couldn't even decide if he was a quarterback. So yeah, I, I, I think that there, there is, you know, there's real questions here on how they're going to handle it and what, how they view Joe Milton. Because honestly, like, I could see a situation where they're giving Joe Milton a lion's share of training camp snaps because they're still trying to develop him. But then Sam Howell still ends up being your backup quarterback just because you can rely on him to get you through a game a little bit.

[Landon McCool]

I'm just at the point that I just don't see a world in which Joe Milton is the next quarterback up for the Cowboys long term. Like, he's just not the franchise guy. I mean, again, I would love to be wrong, man, wouldn't that be awesome to be wrong?

[Marcus Mosher]

But, but you're right. Most of this is, this is not the kind of situation that usually works out. Let's be honest. Like, I mean, you're not wrong in this.

[Landon McCool]

So in that standpoint, I kind of hope it's Hal, because if Hal has to come into the game I think he can be a better point guard to all the weapons that you have on offense. Milton's intriguing and if he takes a big step this year during training camp, maybe he makes the decision easier on you. But I I gotta believe with them going out and signing Sam Howell and giving him guaranteed money, the idea is that he's going to be the backup and Milton will be the third quarterback.

[Marcus Mosher]

Well, and here's the other thing too. Going back to our last segment conversation, maybe it depends on how your off the rest of your offense looks, right? Like if the rest of your offense looks really good, if you're getting better efficiency from your offensive line, your run game looks good, then man, all you need is a guy out there who can be a point guard to get the ball to all these great, great receivers. But if your defense looks crappy and your offensive line doesn't look quite good enough, then like you need a high variance guy to come in there and make big plays and throw it down the field. I think that's a real thing.

[Landon McCool]

All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making Lockdown Cowboys your first listen every single day. Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast so you get all of the latest episodes. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get LOTH on Cowboys ad free members only, Discord Access and so much more. Head over to lockoncowboys.supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel and on audio. Make your second listen the lockdown NFL Draft podcast. Check out tomorrow's show when we're going to go over the entire 2026 schedule for the Cowboys. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB. I'm at Marcus Underscore Mosher. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money.

[Marcus Mosher]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Marcus Mosher]

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[Landon McCool]

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