In the wake of Dak Prescott’s season-ending ankle injury and Andy Dalton taking over as starting quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys have added veteran QB Garrett Gilbert to their 53-man roster. He was on the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad.
Gilbert was a 6th-round pick in 2014 by the Los Angeles Rams. He has had stops with six other NFL teams since then, mostly on practice squad but occasionally on the active roster. He’s only been active for six games and attempted six passes in the NFL so far.
However, in 2019 Garrett was one of the standout players in the short-lived Alliance of American Football. During the 8-week run of the second-tier professional league, Gilbert was arguably the top QB as he led the AAF in passing yards, attempts, completion, and passer rating. He threw 13 touchdowns to only three interceptions for the Orlando Apollos.
The Cowboys have had Gilbert on their radar before this year, having brought him in for a workout during the 2017 offseason. But that was an entirely different coaching staff, so perhaps Mike McCarthy had his eye on the QB in the past as well.
It will be interesting to see how the depth chart looks behind Andy Dalton going forward. The Cowboys still have 7th-round rookie Ben DiNucci on the roster and he’s at least been able to learn the system over the last few months.
Gilbert will likely be inactive this week as Dallas hosts the Arizona Cardinals on Monday Night Football, giving DiNucci his first appearance on the game-day roster. But time will tell if the Cowboys entrust him with more responsibility as the season develops.
