Dallas Cowboys sign quarterbacks Cooper Rush, Will Grier to practice squad

The Dallas Cowboys have resigned quarterbacks Cooper Rush and Will Grier to their practice squad according to NFL insider Tom Pelisero, leaving starting quarterback Dak Prescott as the only quarterback on their 53-man roster.

Rush and Grier competed with Ben DiNucci throughout all of training camp and the preseason for the backup quarterback job. DiNucci was released Monday before Rush and Grier were on Tuesday before being added back to the team’s practice squad today.

It is not common to see teams head into the season with just one quarterback on their 53-man roster heading into the season, but the Cowboys will likely use their time between now and their season opener versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to evaluate Rush and Grier further in order to see who will be the backup moving forward.

More on Rush and Grier

Cooper Rush enters his fifth season in the NFL, and signed with the Cowboys as a undrafted free agent in 2017 out of Central Michigan. Rush was an all-conference player in the MAC twice during college, and ended his career with the Chippewas with 49 consecutive starts, 12,894 passing yards (12 yards shy of a school and conference record), and 90 touchdowns.

In his first four years with the Cowboys Rush saw limited action, bouncing around between backup and third-string quarterback roles. Rush was waived by the Cowboys in 2020 after the team signed Andy Dalton and spent a few months on the New York Giants before being resigned by the Cowboys in 2021. Rush had his first career NFL start in 2021 during the Cowboy’s week 8 matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings in relief of an injured Dak Prescott, where he threw for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns leading a comeback victory.

Rush saw action in all three of the Cowboy’s preseason games this year throwing for 136 yards, zero touchdowns, and an interception.

Will Grier on the other hand had a more promising preseason for the Cowboys, throwing for 186 yards, two touchdowns, and added 35 rush yards on six attempts to his stat line in just two games. Grier was signed off waivers by the Cowboys in September of 2021 after a two-year stint with the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers drafted Grier in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft with the 100th overall pick out of West Virginia and made two consecutive starts for the Panthers in 2019. The first was in a week 16 loss where he threw for 224 yards and three interceptions, and in the second he threw for just four yards and an interception before exiting the game in the second quarter with a foot injury. Grier saw no regular season action in the 2021 or 2022 seasons.