Uncertainty ahead for Cowboys backup QB Cooper Rush entering free agency

The Dallas Cowboys won’t be making a major change at QB1 for the 2023 season with Dak Prescott locked in, but there’s uncertainty for the signal-callers behind the star QB. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush is among 20 Dallas players headed toward the free-agent market in March.

The former unsigned free agent out of Central Michigan played an important role when Prescott exited the Week 1 game versus Tampa Bay. His thumb fracture pushed Rush into the starting job and he led the team to a 4-2 start.

Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones was non-committal about whether the team will pay up to hold on to the valuable QB2.

“Well, well, we’ll see,” Jones said, referring to Rush’s status. “I don’t know. We like Will Grier. Cooper is someone that we should really look to.

“We’ve seen him do it. I’ve just seen him do it and like what he did. Grier in camp as you know, we all thought, had a little more spark at the time.”

Cowboys consider futures of Rush, Grier

Former West Virginia star Will Grier impressed during the preseason but suffered a groin injury that kept him on the inactives report for much of the season.

Grier threw for 186 yards, two touchdowns, and an additional 35 rushing yards on six attempts in two preseason games. The team signed him off waivers in September of 2021 after a two-year stint with the Carolina Panthers.

The 2019 third-round draft pick hasn’t played in a regular-season game since his first season in the league with Carolina. He completed 53.8% of his passes with no scores and four picks.

Meanwhile, Rush, playing on a two-year, $1.9 million deal, accumulated 1,051 passing yards with five touchdowns and three picks as Prescott’s early-season relief. He had a completion percentage of 58%, hitting a high of 67% versus the Giants in Week 3.

On top of the more veteran backups, the Cowboys plan to add a youngster to the group this year. Jones committed to drafting a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft, admitting that was his deal with Mike McCarthy.

“[McCarthy] likes to do that,” said Jones. “He likes to be working with a young quarterback. So yeah, we should keep that. If I look back over my earlier years with the Cowboys, I should have — if I had to do it over again, I’d have a quarterback coming all the time. Just for that purpose, just to have him coming.

“And really that’s the understanding that I had with Mike when he got here, and let’s keep one coming.”