{"id":219708,"date":"2025-02-28T15:45:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T20:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=219708"},"modified":"2025-02-27T20:26:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T01:26:06","slug":"cooper-rush-trey-lance-free-agents-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/28\/cooper-rush-trey-lance-free-agents-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Rush or Trey Lance: Which Will Be the Cowboys Backup Quarterback"},"content":{"rendered":"

All is quiet on the front for both Cooper Rush and Trey Lance. It isn\u2019t likely to remain that way, as both players are set to be unrestricted free agents<\/a> in just a few weeks. Therefore, the Dallas Cowboys have a big decision to make at their backup quarterback position. Do they go with proven ability or bank on development?<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooper Rush and Trey Lance Competing for Cowboys QB2<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Case for Cooper Rush<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Not every backup quarterback is going to win games. Several of the number two\u2019s in the league aren\u2019t great. They\u2019re placeholders for the star of the show. The same can\u2019t be said about Cooper Rush, who managed to go 4-4 as a starter for the team in 2024 and 5-1 for the rest of his Cowboys career. Rush can win games. He isn\u2019t just filling a seat\u2013he\u2019s making it work. However, he isn\u2019t perfect and has clear downfalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Rush doesn\u2019t have a super high ceiling<\/a>. All the tricks are out of the bag. He isn\u2019t going to scramble under pressure. Rush can\u2019t consistently make long throws down the field. And he isn\u2019t bringing anything extraordinary with him when he steps off the bench. He\u2019s the kind of guy that checks the boxes but doesn\u2019t add any. None of those are bad things. In fact, the Dallas Cowboys have enjoyed that about him. He\u2019s consistent year after year. Rush seamlessly slides into the scheme that the Cowboys already made around Dak Prescott. Realistically, there isn\u2019t much more they can ask of him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Case for Trey Lance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On the other hand, if the Cowboys want a guy with a high ceiling, who might be right <\/span>there<\/span><\/i> when it comes to explosiveness, they have Trey Lance. Although it wasn\u2019t his best season on paper, Lance is everything Rush isn\u2019t<\/a>. They\u2019re polar opposites. Lance is a scrambling quarterback. He moves around the field and exits the pocket the moment things look grim. That\u2019s his specialty. But it\u2019s also something to plan around and an extra step for the coaching staff. It shouldn\u2019t be a problem with the new offensive coordinator, Clayton Adams, who worked with Kyler Murray in Arizona. So that\u2019s a problem that\u2019s solved.<\/span><\/p>\n

What isn\u2019t solved is arm strength. Lance struggles to place the long ball. If he stays, it\u2019s another piece of the puzzle the Cowboys must figure out. Although, they managed to make it work with Rush just fine. Also, Lance\u2019s record just isn\u2019t Rush\u2019s. Some of that could still be a scheme issue. But it\u2019s another problem that needs to be fixed if they\u2019d like to keep him on this roster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other Options for Dallas Cowboys Quarterback<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Cowboys could let both players walk, though it isn\u2019t likely. Will Grier still remains<\/a> on the roster as a QB4. While the Cowboys probably will not keep both guys, they will more than likely retain one so that they know who they\u2019re working with. Grier wasn\u2019t in the building the majority of the year, so keeping either Rush or Lance is imperative.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the draft. This isn\u2019t a heavy quarterback draft, but the Cowboys are pretty good at picking diamonds in the rough. They could scoop up a guy with comparable talent to Rush and potential to Lance and feel good to go. If they\u2019re looking to save money, this might be the most economically sound option. Rush doesn\u2019t consume much of the cap, but Lance could, as he\u2019s already paid more.<\/span><\/p>\n

This backup competition isn\u2019t at the forefront. There are bigger deals to sign and other contracts to worry about, like Rico Dowdle<\/a> vs. Deuce Vaughn<\/a>, or how desperate is the situation for a new offensive linemen now that Zack Martin is retiring<\/a>? And that\u2019s just the offense. Only time will tell whether either QB touches the field at AT&T Stadium again.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo: Tim Heitman – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All is quiet on the front for both Cooper Rush and Trey Lance. It isn\u2019t likely to remain that way, as both players are set to be unrestricted free agents in just a few weeks. Therefore, the Dallas Cowboys have a big decision to make at their backup quarterback position. Do they go with proven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5238,"featured_media":219864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,54],"tags":[9475,7422,7059],"class_list":["post-219708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cowboys","category-editorials","tag-cooper-rush","tag-dallas-cowboys-news","tag-trey-lance"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219708"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219865,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219708\/revisions\/219865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}