When the Dallas Cowboys take the field in 2017, their top two quarterbacks are only going to have exactly one year of NFL experience between them, and that's because the Cowboys decided to go with an undrafted rookie to back up Dak Prescott.
The Cowboys released quarterbacks Luke McCown and Kellen Moore on Saturday, leaving Cooper Rush as the winner in the team's battle to serve as the backup quarterback to Prescott. which is fitting, because Rush's story is almost as implausible as Prescott's.
After Rush went undrafted out of Central Michigan this year, the Cowboys decided to take a gamble on the four-year college starter by signing him to a rookie deal in May. When the preseason started, Rush was behind Moore on the Cowboys' depth chart, but after just two games, it became clear that the rookie would have a plausible shot at winning the backup job.
During his first preseason game against the Rams, Rush went 9 of 11 for 104 yards and a touchdown. The rookie looked even better the next week, going 8 of 9 for 92 yards and two touchdowns during a 24-19 win over the Colts.
Meanwhile, Moore and McCown both struggled during the Cowboys' first two preseason games. Moore completed less than 50 percent of his passes and didn't throw a single touchdown pass. As for McCown, he went 6 of 13 for 41 yards against the Rams during his only extensive action.
According to NFL.com, Moore is still in the Cowboys' plans and the team is hoping to add him to the practice squad on Sunday.
Like every team in the NFL, the Cowboys had to trim their roster down from 90 to 53 players on Saturday. Here's a list of all the players who got cut along with McCown and Moore:
DE Richard Ash, DE Woody Barron, S Robert Blanton, RB Brandon Brown-Dukes, WR Brian Brown, C Ross Burbank, CB Dejuan Butler, DT Jordan Carrell, OL Ruben Carter, OT Emmett Cleary, G Kadeem Edwards, LB Kennan Gilchrist, CB John Green, WR Karel Hamilton, TE Connor Hamlett, WR Javontee Herndon, RB Ronnie Hillman, P Sam Irwin-Hill, DT Joey Ivie, TE Blake Jarwin, WR Andy Jones, LB Joe Jones, DE Lenny Jones, WR Lance Lenoir, DE Darnell Leslie, LB John Lotulelei, LB Lamar Louis, QB Luke McCown, TE M.J. McFarland, QB Kellen Moore, DE Lewis Neal, WR Uzoma Nwachukwu, CB Sammy Seamster, S Jameil Showers, G Dan Skipper, G Nate Theaker, LB Lucas Wacha, WR Corey Washington, CB Marquez White, LS Zach Wood.
You can check our roster cuts tracker for info on moves from every NFL team.