For a guy who has never played a regular-season down for the Dallas Cowboys in his career and has, in fact, not thrown an NFL pass at all in seven years, quarterback Will Grier maintains something of a legendary status in Dallas. Perhaps it’s the way that starting quarterback Dak Prescott always took to him and pushed for Grier to be on the roster. Perhaps it’s the way Grier put forth some of the most memorable preseason performances in recent memory, most notably the summer finale in 2023 against the Raiders, in which Grier went 29-for-35 for 305 passing yards with a touchdown, and ran in for two more scores.
It was bittersweet, because the Cowboys had made the trade for Trey Lance at that time, which meant Grier was going to get cut.
“That man just played his ass off,” a teary-eyed Prescott said. “That’s who Will is. That’s who Will’s been since the time he’s been here. It was awesome that he got to go out there and put that performance on display and hope the rest of the league saw that and took notice.”
Will Grier was Nearly on Cowboys Coaching Staff
Grier bounced around the NFL after that–Cincinnati, New England, Philadelphia–but did eventually find his way back to the Cowboys and though he was not an active player during his second stint, Grier again left a mark on the team.
As The Athletic’s Joe Person reported this week, Grier, who is now with the Panthers, had an interesting offer from Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer.
Wrote Person: “After Grier spent last season on Dallas’ practice squad, the Cowboys offered him a position on Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff this year, according to Chad Grier, who said Will was leaning toward taking it before the Panthers called.”
Chad Grier, Will’s father, advised him that he would have the rest of his life to coach but only so much time to play. So, Will Grier went to Carolina as a player, and once again, he is sticking around the NFL as the rare third-stringer.
Backup Quarterback Role in Flux
Of course, for the Cowboys, the quarterback situation has changed this year. The Cowboys brought in Sam Howell to challenge Joe Milton as the backup to Prescott, and while the presumption ahs been that Milton will hold him off and win the job, Howell appears to be neck-and-neck with Milton.
The two split reps during this week’s final OTAs, an indication that the Cowboys are not sold on Milton as the QB2.
As Jon Machota of The Athletic said on “The Cowboys Collective” podcast: “They’re splitting reps at that backup spot. Brian Schottenheimer is going to sit there and say it’s this great competition and they just wanted competition, that’s why they brought in Sam Howell. But I find that hard to believe. If Joe Milton had shown them enough last year, I don’t think you’re bringing in Sam Howell and then straight up letting them split reps in practice to find out who wins that job.”
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