The Dallas Cowboys have signed quarterback Will Grier amid major struggles at the position.
With Dak Prescott officially undergoing season-ending surgery on his torn hamstring, the Cowboys now have a third quarterback on the roster alongside Cooper Rush and Trey Lance.
Grier, 29, has spent time with the Cowboys over the course of his NFL career. The journeyman quarterback was initially drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. Grier made two starts for Carolina in 2019, completing 53.8 percent of his passes for 228 yards with zero touchdowns and four interceptions. The Panthers went 0-2 in those games.
Grier remained with the Panthers in 2020 as the third-string quarterback and didn’t play in any games. Then, he was released ahead of the 2021 season.
The Cowboys added Grier in Sept. 2021 to be the third-string quarterback. He was inactive for all but one week but didn’t play the one week he was active. In 2022, Grier was again with the Cowboys but did not see any playing time.
Grier was waived by the Cowboys ahead of the 2023 season and joined the Cincinnati Bengals. He then bounced around between the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, and Philadelphia Eagles.
Grier hasn’t played in an NFL game since his rookie year in Carolina, and will likely now be the third-string quarterback in Dallas behind Rush and Lance.
Rush got the start for Dallas in Week 10 in the team’s first game without Prescott. He struggled mightily in a 34-6 loss to the Eagles, completing just 13-of-23 passes for 45 yards. Rush was benched for Lance late in the game, who completed 4-of-6 passes for 21 yards with an interception.
The Cowboys, now at 3-6, likely face a lost season in 2024 due to their struggles combined with the injury to Prescott. However, Rush and Lance will continue to get opportunities, with Grier behind them in case the Cowboys feel a change is needed.
For now, though, head coach Mike McCarthy made it clear that Rush was the starter moving forward, at least for the team’s Week 11 matchup against the Houston Texans.
“We have a lot of faith in Cooper,” McCarthy said. “Like I stood up here last week, everybody believes in him. How can you not based off the way he’s performed? But that fumble and the recovery attempt, that was off to a rough start. Just felt like he never really got into a rhythm.”
“Everybody has confidence in Coop,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer added Monday. “Again, it wasn’t our best performance yesterday as an offense, for sure. Wasn’t all him. We’re all involved in that.”
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