Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys have been in their offseason since the final game of the 2025-26 regular season, which was a 34-17 loss to to the New York Giants on Sunday, January 4. Now, the Cowboys are reshaping their lineup to give them a better position to compete when the 2026-27 season kicks in.
One of the most important pieces of any NFL team is their franchise quarterback position. The team drafted quarterback Dak Prescott in the 2016 NFL draft in the fourth round, 135th overall, and he’s proved a smart pick. During the 2025-26 NFL regular season, Prescott notched 4,552 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions, with a passer rating of 99.5, according to NFL research.
Even with those numbers, Prescott and the team didn’t make it to the playoffs. Following the Giants game, Prescott told reporters that it was a “tough, tough season” and “frustrating in the sense” that he “can’t directly correlate my play to the wins or losses, end of the season, overall success of the season. So, that makes it frustrating.”
Prescott added, “One of the best offenses in the league, explosive. Not always to our standard, didn’t play like that every week, week in and week out. But put up a lot of points. Unfortunately, just didn’t win the one-score games that we should have. Didn’t finish out some of those close games on our end.”
He also said that finishing with the team’s 7-9-1 record was just a reality. “A lot of good in the season. But it’s not the destination, not the end goal, not where we wanted to be,” Prescott added in the postgame news conference. “But thankful for the experience. Thankful for the men in the locker room who gave their all. Coaches each and every week. I don’t think effort or lack of focus or intensity was ever our problem. Appreciate everyone giving it their all, leaving it all out there.”
Dallas Cowboys Sign a Dak Prescott Backup
So, Prescott is solid, but if he goes down, the Cowboys need quarterback depth to back him up.
On Monday, February 2, Will Grier signed, again, with the Dallas Cowboys on a reserve/future deal. Grier, who started his NFL career in Carolina, is back with the Cowboys, where he’s been on-and-off in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025. It kind of feels like getting back with that ex and breaking up again, right?
Grier started his NFL career with the Panthers, being selected out of West Virginia University in the third round of the 2019 NFL draft. His rookie year in the NFL, he started in the final two games of that year, notching 28 of his 52 throws for 228 yards and four interceptions, according to NFL research.
New Quarterback Has Long History With the Dallas Cowboys
Grier was with the Dallas Cowboys as recently as the 2025-26 season. So, he’s no stranger to Dallas.
During the season, Grier didn’t make the Cowboys’ 53-man roster after training camp last year, with the team opting for Joe Milton instead. But, Grier remained on their practice squad. He didn’t appear in any games.
Since Milton is still with the Cowboys, expect some healthy competition between the two to be the main backup quarterback to Prescott.
Cowboys Sign New Quarterback as Dak Prescott Assurance