Stephen Jones has said multiple times this offseason that the one move the Dallas Cowboys may make in shuffling their roster prior to training camp is at the quarterback position, needing another veteran to sit behind Dak Prescott. While he may not fill this role perfectly, the Cowboys have indeed made a move at QB – signing Zac Dysert while releasing Florida UDFA Austin Appleby.
Appleby was competing with fellow UDFA QB Cooper Rush through the Cowboys’ OTAs, but there were reports that – amidst his continued inconsistent accuracy – Appleby struggled even taking snaps from under center.
Kellen Moore remains the primary backup to Prescott (remember when he was actually going to start over Dak before his injury!?), as Dysert joins the team having yet to appear in a regular season game.
The all-time leading passer at Miami University Ohio, Dysert was a seventh round pick of the Broncos in 2013.
Cowboys waived rookie free agent QB Austin Appleby and claimed QB Zac Dysert off waivers from Arizona.
— Rob Phillips (@robphillips3) June 5, 2017
Quickly slipping down the depth chart, Zac Dysert’s roster spot behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler regressed to that of a practice squad position – later cut by the team ahead of 2015.
Since then, Dysert has struggled mightily to find any stability in searching for his shot in the NFL, bouncing around to the Bears, Texans, Bills, Dolphins, and most recently the Cardinals’ practice squads. Zac Dysert did see some time on Arizona’s active roster but never appeared in a game.
Thanks to Dak Prescott, Dallas is hardly the destination for a journeyman quarterback to break into his first starting gig, but after learning a ton from both Tony Romo and Mark Sanchez as a rookie the Cowboys’ starting QB has a well-versed veteran around in the silver and blue with Zac Dysert now.
I think it is good they added another veteran QB. I doubt he can beat out Kellen Moore or will even be given the chance to. S Linehan has confidence in K Moore. Dallas wants to give K Moore all the reps/preseason playing time they can to get him ready to be the number 2 QB. Competition at this position takes from the process of getting K Moore ready. Unless K Moore really starts screwing up which isn’t likely, Zak Dysert probably will only play at 3rd team. K Moore will get all the 2nd team reps and playing time.