FRISCO, TX — The Dallas Cowboys will have a familiar face in the quarterback room next season. Backup quarterback Cooper Rush has agreed to a 2-year deal worth $5 million and a $1.25 million signing bonus.
Rush stepped up last season when Dak Prescott missed significant time with a hand injury. Prescott suffered a fractured right thumb in the season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that required surgery in 2022, forcing him to miss five games. Filling in, Rush was steady and made plays when they mattered most.
After Prescott went down, Rush finished with a 4-1 record. During that time, Dallas beat Cincinnati, the New York Giants, Washington, and the Los Angeles Rams. Rush’s hot streak ended when Philadelphia beat the Cowboys 26-17.
Rush has a 5-1 record overall as the Cowboys' starter the past two seasons while filling in for an injured Prescott. He has thrown for 1,475 yards in his career with eight touchdown passes and four interceptions.
Before the Philly game, some Cowboys fans even called for Rush to replace Prescott as the starting quarterback. Rush’s numbers do not support that claim, as the backup quarterback never eclipsed more than 235 yards through the air. However, he did what the Cowboys needed of him to win those games.
Rush won the Cowboys' backup job as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and held the position through 2019. When Mike McCarthy arrived in 2020 and the Cowboys added Andy Dalton, Rush was released and spent time with the Giants before returning to the Cowboys later that season.
Cooper Rush is a safe insurance policy for the Cowboys moving forward. This might not be the flashy off-season move that Cowboys fans were looking for, but it was a necessary one.
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