Rookie minicamps are meant for draft picks and undrafted free agents adjusting to NFL life. But they can act as a silver lining for veterans who have few options to keep their careers going. The Minnesota Vikings extended that opportunity to former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush, who was released by the Baltimore Ravens this year.

Rush is among the 57 players who will suit up for the rookie minicamp. He will be throwing for players who are a good decade younger than him. But after playing for nine years as a backup and having no solid interest from a team, Cooper Rush will make use of everything that comes his way. He will be participating on a ‘tryout’ basis, but that’s not all there is to the situation.

There is little chance of Rush making the Vikings QB chart. They’ve already got Kyler Murray as a starter, who will be backed up by Carson Wentz, J.J. McCarthy, and Max Brosmer. But since they are all active players, they will not be participating in the rookie camp. And, Minnesota did not draft any quarterbacks this year and signed no rookie QBs as undrafted free agents. Since there are no rookie QBs to throw passes at the other participants, Rush was brought in. He will not be evaluated as such here.

The 32-year-old has appeared in 42 regular-season games with 16 starts and a respectable 9-7 record. Most of that experience came during his seven seasons with the Cowboys, where he built a reputation as a reliable reserve quarterback. He recorded 3,463 yards and 20 touchdowns in 38 games for the Cowboys.

Rush’s stint with America’s team alone could make for a great highlight reel. Initially brought on as a UDFA signee in 2017, he barely got any time to play and was let go in 2020. But Dallas brought the QB back in 2021, and he got to start his first game that year against the Vikings. Dak Prescott was out with a calf injury, and Rush left everyone pleasantly surprised. He threw for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The latter of those two scores marked the end of a 75-yard drive as the game drew close to an end.

“It’s pretty awesome to be able to show everyone and to be able to win like that,” Cooper Rush said after that game. “You always want to win like that.”

Rush also held down the fort for Dallas when Prescott was out for the first month or so in the 2022 season. He went 4-1 as a starter that year, and had the fifth-highest QBR in the NFL after four starts. By that time, he had thrown for an impressive 839 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. But after Prescott returned, Rush had to assume his backup role once again. He got some more time to start in 2024, going 4-4 that season. He finished his Cowboys career with two seasons in which he threw for more than 1,000 yards.

It’s easy to be overlooked when you have a dynamic quarterback like Prescott. But Cooper Rush’s numbers prove that he can still provide some reassurance in depth for other QB-needy teams. This opportunity with the Vikings might not be what he wanted, but it has the chance to open some doors for him with other teams. But they will also be wary of the down year he had with the Ravens.

Cooper Rush’s lone season with the Ravens raises red flags

Rush was never looked at as a starter during his entire NFL career. Before he started for the Cowboys, he was actually on the practice roster for 2021 and was re-signed in 2023. Similarly, the Ravens also brought him on as a temporary solution, for a one-year, $6.2 million deal in 2025.

He stepped in as a starter for two games when Lamar Jackson was out with a hamstring injury. But the Ravens lost both with a combined score of 61-13. Rush threw four interceptions and failed to record touchdowns. In Week 6, Rush was benched for Tyler Huntley and was relegated to being the third-string QB. He finished the 2025 season with only 303 yards. In 2026, the Ravens moved on without him, releasing him on March 12.

But Cooper Rush has to go a long way in proving that he’s still worth something to the NFL. Perhaps someone will extend him an invitation to a training camp after the minicamp at Minnesota.

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