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Footballguy
He was closer to being cut than he was to being the Pats starter, as much as some want to believe the contrary. It seems the Cowboys offer was the only one on the table for Milton. Maybe that would’ve changed after the draft, but it wasn’t worth it to Vrabel to wait. It makes more sense that Milton was making too much of a fuss about what he’s deserved versus what he’s earned and that’s why he had to go. They weren’t trading him out of fear of looking impressive against backups.I think if Milton didn’t get traded now that there was a very real chance he’d get cut by the end of training camp and they’d get nothing for him. Moving him (a 2024 6th rder) and a 2025 7th rder and getting a 2025 5th rder in return isn’t amazing, but it’s more than nothing. Milton has always struggled with his progressions and his cannon of an arm comes with very little in terms of touch and accuracy. That’s not going to work in a Josh McDaniels offense.Giardi on the Milton deal:
BSJ ANALYSIS
I'm surprised the Pats moved on from Milton for this price, but he and his people haven't been quiet about wanting to move on from the situation he was in. I'm sure this isn't their preferred destination, but there was no reason for Vrabel and company to show loyalty to a player who a) they didn't draft and b) was making noise without any real accomplishments. That said, I believe there would have potentially been more value post-draft (for a team that missed out on a QB) or even in training camp if another team had suffered an injury at the quarterback position.
Lost his job at Michigan to a QB who has since transferred to two other schools (McNamara), transferred himself to Tennessee and lost the job there too (Hooker), only getting it back after Hooker’s injury. Didn’t produce all that much, at an SEC school, and despite how enamored teams get with physical traits, no team thought enough to draft him until Mayo’s team did in the 6th round. What’s between his ears may be the bigger problem. If he seriously thinks he’s owed a chance at a starting job after spending all season on the inactive list except for the glorified preseason game in Week 18, then he’s as delusional as his fanboys are. He didn’t want to have to earn the backup job in New England, well now he’ll have to do that in Dallas. Hopefully for his sake he has better luck than Trey Lance did. Will Grier should pose less of a challenge than Joshua Dobbs, so there’s that.
I don't think he was going to get cut but who knows since it is pretty obvious they wanted him gone...that being said the more I look at this I think his past history of being "a tease" probably limited his market (the old fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me)...he has always looked the part (he looks like he was built in a QB lab) but he never played consistently in college...I forget who said it on the radio yesterday but they said Vrabel was coaching the Titans when Milton was at Tennessee so he probably saw him a decent amount and that he may have been influenced by that...probably just talk radio chatter but it definitely made me say "huh" and think for a second...just guessing here but if he just spent a year with O'Connell or McVay instead of Mayo and Van Pelt that probably would have helped as well... overall I was hoping for a better return but I guess you need to look at this with the Bill Parcells "you are what your record says you are" mindset and move on because in a QB-starved league in a down year for QBs in the draft a guy who physically checks every box and looked like John Elway in his one start (I get it, it was against backups but no one can deny he looked great) was only able to get back a #5 while also adding in a #7 (to be honest that's the part that bothers me)...the NFL has spoken and in a league that more often than not overpays or reaches for QBs they didn't here so it's time to move on and hope that that #5 helps them facilitate a trade-up in this year's draft.
In all honesty I can't picture anyone thinking he was anywhere close to being a starter...Maye is 110% locked in as he should be...if someone thinks Milton had any chance of starting over him they are delusional...I also think 99.9% of Patriot fans are good with trading him...I think the second he looked great against Buffalo that was expected although I do believe the hope was you would get more because he plays the premium-position where teams usually reach/overpay and this return is very pedestrian...now, with Geno only going for a 3rd maybe we are seeing a change in philosophy in that thinking but I do believe looking at this the evaluation on Milton probably hasn't changed too much since college because there are teams like the NYG, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, the Rams and New Orleans that could really use a young QB with upside but as Giardi points out teams in that situation probably want to see the draft play out until they think about someone like Milton and as you point out Vrabel may be more concerned with now.