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.
Cowboys are signing QB Garrett Gilbert off the Browns practice squad, source said. Former Texas and SMU quarterback returns to the Dallas area. He must complete a six-day COVID-19 screening period before he can enter The Star.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) October 13, 2020
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.
I can’t believe with all the QB options out there, we chose a QB that’s only had 6 pass attempts in 6 years in the NFL!! I get that he did good in the AAF, but that’s not the NFL…. And there’s a reason he was playing there and not the NFL!! They made a smart choice signing Dalton to backup Dak, but this move is dumb!! We need somebody better than Garrett Gilbert, it’s not gonna be good if Dalton goes down with an injury!! If that happens the only QBs we’ll have are a 7th round rookie and pretty much a 6 year rookie!! Smh!!
Dak is mobile no it don’t make since to hire a statue without a fb and offensive line to protect him that boy gonna wind up like Aikman in his final season or worse Dinucci is the best backup for Dak that boy is young and can runwhich nine times out of ten we want be calling injury Timeouts for Dinucci but if this o line don’t get better Dalton will be retiring next next year if the Jones don’t stop wasting money…. The JONES is the dumbest rich people I ever seen? THEY PAYING LIGHTS CABLE & WATER BUT OWE $1500 ON THE MORTGAGE THATS DUE TOMORROW OR THEY GOING TAKE YOUR HOME!!!
Really….dalton, dinucci, now this guy! How embarrassing… but still dc all day no matter what! Love u dak , amari, created Dee, and gang.
There is a reason Dalton is no longer with Cinci, Gilbert has always been behind starting qb’s without having a chance to showcase. If u haven’t seen Gilbert play, shut the hell up. But if they stay with same defensive scheme it really won’t matter