Cowboys make intriguing quarterback move before season finale
Will Grier will back up Cooper Rush and Trey Lance in Week 18.
The Dallas Cowboys quarterback situation could get interesting in Week 18. Without any stakes to play for, the team followed through on an interesting transaction by promoting Will Grier to their active roster from the practice squad, per Ian Rapoport.
Grier, a former third-round pick, has been on the team’s practice squad since Week 11. Before that, he spent the first half of the 2024 season as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad. He has not played a snap since the 2019 season.
As a rookie in 2019, Grier played just two games, throwing for a combined 228 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. He averaged just 4.4 yards per pass and took six sacks. He has not recorded a stat in the five years since.
However, despite being on multiple practice squads over the past two seasons, Grier was last on an active roster with the Cowboys. He spent the entire 2021 and 2022 seasons with the franchise, bouncing back and forth between the active roster and the practice squad. He was released during the 2023 preseason after Dallas acquired Trey Lance, whom Grier will back up in Week 18.
Nearly years later, Grier re-joins the team under similar circumstances. Dallas added him for depth in 2022 behind Cooper Rush while Dak Prescott struggled with injuries. He will be utilized similarly in Week 18, with Prescott on injured reserve and Rush set to make another start.
Nothing will be on the line for the Cowboys in the regular season finale, giving Mike McCarthy the chance to get a look at all of his potential assets. As such, Dallas is rumored to be planning on using multiple quarterbacks in Week 18.
Rush will still get the start, but McCarthy reportedly wants to give Lance an extended run. No word has been made on Grier’s status, but it would not be a huge surprise to see him enter the game as well, particularly if the score gets out of hand.
Lance, a former No. 3 overall pick, has taken the field just nine times in his three-year career. Initially expected to succeed Jimmy Garoppolo with the San Francisco 49ers, Lance lost his job to injury and watched Brock Purdy take his job. Since then, he has been buried behind Prescott and Rush on the Cowboys’ depth chart.
