Former Cowboys dream QB target just got benched in XFL debut

A former quarterback prospect that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was infatuated with in 2016 made his XFL debut and got benched.

In the lead-up to the 2016 NFL Draft, sometimes you get an idea when a team blatantly and openly likes a prospect. For the Dallas Cowboys, that was Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. Team owner Jerry Jones liked Lynch so much, that he explored trading back into the first round to select him after they took running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth-overall pick. Yet, that never happened, as the Cowboys didn’t trade back into the first round, and the Denver Broncos selected him with the 26th-overall pick.

As it turns out, Jones prevented from making a mistake. In 2023, there is further proof of that.

The XFL made it’s return for the third time, this time under the ownership of Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and RedBird Capital Partners. On Saturday, the Orlando Guardians took on the Houston Roughnecks in their season opener. Lynch was the starting quarterback for the Guardians, but he was benched during the game after a bad interception.

Former Cowboys draft target Paxton Lynch benched in XFL debut

Lynch did have an ideal start to the game, as he threw a touchdown pass to his former Denver Broncos teammate Cody Latimer for a touchdown.

After Lynch’s third quarter interception, Guardians head coach Terrell Buckley benched him in favor of backup Quinten Dormandy, a former Tennessee Volunteers quarterback. On his second drive, Dormandy connected with wide receiver Andrew Jamiel for a 51-yard touchdown.

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The Guardians ended up losing the game 33-12.

Back in the 2016 NFL Draft, Jones envisioned selecting Lynch for him to become the successor to Tony Romo, who would retire in 2017. The Cowboys lost out on their bid to trade to the No. 26 spot, as the Broncos were able to swing a deal with the Seattle Seahawks, acquiring that pick in exchange for their first- and third-round picks that year.

Jones said that he was upset that he didn’t overpay to trade back into the first-round to select Lynch! That and he was “still mad about it” the next day.

"“When I look back on my life, I overpaid for my big successes every time,” Jones said, h/t NFL.com. “And when I tried to get a bargain, get it a little cheaper or get a better deal on it, I ended up usually either getting it and not happy I got it. Or missing it.“And I probably should have overpaid here.”"

The move to not trade up for Lynch ultimately paid off. Instead of giving up picks to select Lynch, they used their fourth-round pick on Dak Prescott out of Mississippi State. Prescott won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award after taking over for an injured Romo and led the team to an NFC East title. Prescott has been the Cowboys’ starting quarterback ever since.

As for Lynch, he spent just two years with the Broncos, before spending the 2019 season with the Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers. He hasn’t played in the NFL since, playing for the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2021 and the United States Football League’s (USFL) Michigan Panthers in 2022.

Jones wanted Lynch to be the Cowboys’ quarterback of the future. In hindsight, not being able to trade for him in the first-round worked out for them.