The Dallas Cowboys’ biggest active position battle on offense might be backup quarterback. With all 11 starters returning from 2025 and receiving depth better than ever, the biggest questions remaining might be Sam Howell or Joe Milton. Howell has thrown a touchdown and an interception across two preseason games, starting the Cowboys’ win over Seattle while Joe Milton started Saturday’s win against Arizona. NBC 5’s Newy Scruggs sat down with Howell to discuss his NFL career and the backup QB competition. Howell’s first regular-season start was a win over the Cowboys in Week 18 of the 2022 season when the Commanders beat the Cowboys 26-6. “It was exciting to get my first NFL start. I grew up a Cowboys fan, so to get to play against the Cowboys in my first game was a pretty cool experience,” Howell said. ” Yeah, we won the game. It was a fun game, fun to get out there. It’s my first, like I said, my first start, my first NFL action. It is a fun day, one of the best days of my life for sure.” Howell’s first career pass was a 16-yard touchdown. “This is always a place that I wanted to play in my career, and obviously I grew up a Cowboys fan and watched every single game growing up. So it’s a true full-circle moment to be a part of the team, and it’s something I definitely don’t take for granted. I try to make the most of it and truly appreciate where I am and take it one day at a time,” Howell said. Howell grew up idolizing the Cowboys’ most recent starting quarterbacks, Dak Prescott and Tony Romo. “When I was growing up, it was Tony Romo. I was a Tony Romo guy. Tony Romo was the quarterback pretty much the whole time I was growing up. So I love watchin’ Tony Romo, had the chance to meet him a couple times. I love watching Dak. Dak was, obviously Dak is a heck of a player, and he took it over when I was probably in high school. Showed you how old he is. But, nah, Dak’s a good player as well. I’m looking forward to the opportunity of learning a lot from Dak,” Howell said. Prescott is not a fan of being the elder statesman, according to Howell. “We give him a hard time about it, but it’s just a testament to him and what he’s been able to do in his career, and he’s in his prime. You know, people talk about the age of Dak and his prime, and it’s been fun to watch,” Howell said. Howell is fighting not just to be a backup, but a starter somewhere else someday. “It’s just about making the most of your opportunities. You know, you can’t control how many opportunities you get or what the opportunities are, but what you can control is how you approach those things and, you know, however many plays I get, whether it’s a preseason game, whether I get in the game, I just try to take it one rep at a time and make the most of it,” Howell said. “Yeah, I’ve been through it, that’s for sure. But I feel like everything I’ve been through has helped me get better and helped me kind of turn into the man and player that I am today. But like you said, I’ve been traded a lot. I’ve seen a lot of things. I think the main thing is I’ve learned a lot of different offenses. And this is my fifth year in the NFL, but the sixth offense that I’ve learned, and there’s things that I can take from all those and things I can’t take from coaches along the way. I’ve had the opportunity to play for some really good coaches and some really good organizations that I learned a lot from. And so all those things I kind of take into account and try to help make me a better player.” Howell was college teammates at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Cowboys starting running back Javonte Williams. Oct 24, 2020; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Javonte Williams (25) celebrates with quarterback Sam Howell (7) after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports “Yeah, I love Javonte. Javonte is one of my best friends in college, still one of our best friends. He’s a great dude. You know, I’ve loved growing a relationship with him in college and kind of keeping that relationship in the NFL, but he’s just so much fun to play with. He’s a great kid, a really smart kid. He was a valedictorian coming out of high school. He always knows exactly what to do, and he knows who to block in the past protection game, which is hard to find in a running back spot. So he’s just a great player. He’s tough to tackle. There’s times when, in college, I would hand it off to him, and I would look in front of him, and it would look like there was nothing there, and he’d make something out of it. He’s a great player,” Howell said. Howell is preparing for the future one snap at a time. “I’ll take it one day at a time, and you know, each opportunity is a great opportunity. So, no matter if it’s a practice, a preseason game, I’m excited. I love playing football. In the past three years, I haven’t had the opportunity to play much football. So, it doesn’t matter if it’s a preseason game or a regular season game or playoff game, I’m just excited to go out there and play. We’ve been doing some good things here in Oxnard, so it will be fun to take it to the field,” Howell said. ...read more read less