The New England Patriots traded Joe Milton III to the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday morning, picking up a 2025 fifth-round pick in return while also sending a 2025 seventh-round pick the other way. While the Cowboys were able to land Milton, they weren't the only team in the running for his services, as the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders, and New York Giants were all interested in him as well.

A sixth-round pick in the 2024 sixth-round pick, Milton shined in his only NFL action as a rookie, which came against the Buffalo Bills backups in Week 18. Milton threw for 241 yards, ran for another 16, and picked up a pair of touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) to lead New England to victory, although it resulted in them missing out on the No. 1 overall pick ironically enough. Now, Milton will head to the Cowboys despite a slew of interest across the league.

“My understanding is since Joe Milton became available at the start of the offseason, teams that showed interest included the Raiders, Eagles, Giants, Steelers and the Cowboys. The Patriots had a better offer for Milton but chose to send him where he wanted out of respect for him, per source,” Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports reported.

Eagles, Steelers, Raiders come up short in quest to add Joe Milton III from Patriots

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For some of these teams, it's not hard to see why they were interested in Milton. The Steelers, Giants, and Raiders don't have long-term answers at quarterback, which could conceivably have led to them giving Milton a shot under center. The Eagles and Cowboys, meanwhile, were looking for someone they could develop behind the scenes in the event they have a crisis at the position.

In the end, it was Dallas who ended up winning, even though they reportedly did not have the best offer on the table for Milton. The second-year passer made it clear, though, that he has quite a few Cowboys fans in his family, which could have influenced the Patriots when pulling off this trade. Now, Milton will get to work with his new team as Dak Prescott's backup.