Getty The Dallas Cowboys are being pushed to trade Cooper Rush.
The Dallas Cowboys are going to eventually need to make a decision on their trio of quarterbacks. Consider these cap hits at the position for 2024, per Spotrac: Dak Prescott ($59.4 million), Cooper Rush ($2.8 million) and Trey Lance ($5.3 million).
This is why the Cowboys should be motivated to sign Prescott to a new contract extension which would lower his cap hit for 2024. That said, the team still has more than $8 million slated to be committed to their two reserve quarterbacks.
All this has Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine pushing Dallas to trade Rush which would officially make Lance the team’s QB2. One team that could use an upgrade at quarterback is the Jets who appear to have a mutiny on their hands as long as Zach Wilson is QB1.
“That [Rush’s production as a starter] would be a massive upgrade over who the New York Jets currently have starting qt quarterback right now,” Ballentine wrote on September 28, 2023. “That’s what would make Rush an alluring trade candidate. If there’s a non-Prescott quarterback on the roster who could take over as the long-term answer at quarterback when the veteran’s contract is up, it’s Lance.
“Rush is never going to be the team’s long-term answer at quarterback. As Lance gets more comfortable in Dallas, it would make sense to make him the team’s backup and ship off Rush to a team that actually needs an emergency starter.”
Trey Lance on Dak Prescott: ‘He’s Handled Everything the Right Way’
Trey Lance has a pregame routine that starts roughly three hours before kickoff where him and QBs coach Scott Tolzien go through an instructed workout.
A lot of teaching and learning between the two in these pregame sessions.
The Cowboys are taking advantage of the NFL’s new emergency quarterback rules by holding three quarterbacks on their roster. Through the first three games, Lance has not technically been active on gameday but would be allowed to play if the top two quarterbacks went down with an injury. Lance reflected on what it has been like learning from Prescott since arriving from San Francisco.
“He’s a guy that’s obviously played a lot of football at a really high level for a long time,” Lance explained during a September 27 press conference. “Just had his 100th career start, which is is pretty crazy. Not too many people get to that point.
“So, just for me to be able to be in the room, ask him questions. Like I said, how willing he is to help me out throughout the week with everything he’s got going on. Just couldn’t be more thankful for everything. He’s handled everything the right way.”
Dallas Cowboys Rumors: The Raiders & Bengals Showed an Interest in Cooper Rush During Free Agency
“Cooper Rush would’ve won at Arizona, book it.” — @RealSkipBayless on Cowboys loss to Cardinals.
Rush re-signed with the Cowboys last offseason, but the veteran received interest from other teams. ESPN’s Todd Archer reported that the Bengals and Raiders were among the teams that pursued Rush in free agency.
“After going 4-1 last season as the Dallas Cowboys’ starting quarterback while Dak Prescott recovered from thumb surgery, Rush was a hot commodity in free agency,” Archer wrote on April 4. “He was flying to Las Vegas that day to meet with the Raiders, and the Cincinnati Bengals also expressed interest and hoped to set up a visit.”
The question is what Dallas would be able to land for Rush in a potential trade. It is hard to imagine another team trading more than a future day three draft pick for Rush, and the Cowboys would need to decide if this is worth giving up the insurance behind Prescott.