The Seahawks added Jalen Milroe on Friday night, doing so after reacquiring Drew Lock. As Sam Darnold‘s backup crew looks set, the team is moving on from Geno Smith‘s final QB2.
Seattle is sending Sam Howell to the Vikings, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. Minnesota will add the former Washington starter, who had been on the trade block ahead of his contract year. The Seahawks paired Howell with the No. 172 pick, and they acquired pick No. 142, per Albert Breer of TheMMQB.
According to Jeremy Fowler, also of ESPN, the two teams have been quietly working on this deal since last week. Once the Seahawks’ offseason moves and draft intentions made it clear that they were ready to move on from Howell, conversations began the ultimately led to today’s trade.
There’s plenty of natural connections with this trade. The Seahawks, of course, poached Darnold from the Vikings with a lucrative free agent offer. Despite Aaron Rodgers heavily hinting at his desire to join the Vikings, the organization has made it clear they’re content to roll with J.J. McCarthy as their QB1.
Assuming the Vikings stuck with the status quo, that meant they still had an opening for a backup ahead of Brett Rypien. So, in comes Howell, who brings plenty of experience to the role. The former fifth-round pick started all 17 games for Washington in 2023. The Commanders went 4-13 in those outings, with Howell completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 3,946 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions.
The Vikings have been pretty adamant that they won’t be adding Rodgers to their QBs room, and the team’s depth chart seems to be taking shape with this latest acquisition. Rypien brings four games of starting experience, so the Vikings now have two fallback options should McCarthy struggle or suffer an injury.
The Seahawks traded from their surplus and managed to move up 30 spots in the draft. The team used their new selection on Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills. The lineman finished his Fighting Irish career with 17 sacks, including a career-high 7.5 this past season. A late-season knee injury may have slightly impacted his draft position, and the Seahawks are getting an agile defensive lineman who should be able to contribute right away.
Sam Robinson contributed to this report.
Good trade for both teams
Agreed. Howell can compete for backup role behind McCarthy
I agree, rumors have been Hawks trading him. No specifics though.
The 2025 NFL Draft is over for the Vikings. They can all go home.
they have one more pick
KOC will figure out a way to turn Howell into a 10 year backup.
He looked awful in limited duty with Seattle, but imo he showed enough in Washington to be a solid backup. Some things he needs to work on, like knowing when to just get rid of the ball, pocket presence, processing decisions faster, but I agree that these are things KOC can work with.
Yeah, I totally understand it from both team’s perspectives. I don’t put much stock into Howell’s performance against Green Bay; it’s hard to come into a game at moment’s notice against a tough D and look like a starting-caliber player. But drafting Milroe and rostering a solid veteran like Lock solidifies that QB room. Howell has the traits KOC wants to work with and the Hawks got a solid all around D-lineman with the pick. I like it for both.
“The former fifth-round pick started all 17 games for Washington in 2023. The Commanders went 4-13 in those outings, with Howell completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 3,946 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions.”
“Rypien brings four games of starting experience.”
“So the Vikings now have two fallback options should McCarthy struggle or suffer an injury.”
Based on the above information, these two are fallback options = NOT !!
yes….4-13 was all his fault
So Sam Darnold for Sam Howell. Got it.
Darnold had 1 good season. KOC was the QB whisperer. Sam will revert back to form from his previous few years because Seattle coaches won’t be able to bring the same quality out of him as Minnesota did. It’s too bad too…Sam is a great guy. Seattle goes 6-11 with Sam.
The knock on Darnold is he folds under pressure. He has a great arm, accurate, and can read the field well, but once he gets chased out of the pocket he loses it. That really came out the last few games he played with MINN. Even KOC couldn’t fix that. Best of Lock to him in SEA.
Lol Seattle hasn’t gone 6-11 or worse since 2009. So your prediction is ludicrous considering we were a game from the playoffs with Geno Smith. I’ll take Darnold or Milroe over Geno Smith every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Seattle is going to win the NFC West this year.
I’m happy for Sam who has had a rough go of it in the NFL so far. If the Vikings can bring out the best in Darnold then Howell is in the best spot to have his potential realized.
Great value for both teams. Vikes just got QB2 by sliding down 30 slots in R5!
Howell is a vet who has starting experience. KOC QB Rehab school will help that dude. His game & aggressive approach is something KOC wants in his QB’s, provided they don’t glitch in game like Nick Mullens did.
Can we finally drop the Aaron Rodgers business? Vikes don’t want him!
Also, Sam Darnold wasn’t “poached.” Vikes let him walk!
JJMac#9 is THE GUY!
It’s funny to call a guy on a rookie contract “a vet”
He was a fifth round QB and is still younger than QBs drafted last weekend. The Commanders letting him “lead” them to a top 2 pick of his replacement does not make him a “vet”!