Forgotten in all the chaos these last couple of weeks is Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell. Last year Seattle sent the equivalent of a seventh-round draft pick to Washington in order to get him and he spent the 2024 campaign backing up Geno Smith. Howell only saw brief action against the Green Bay Packers, making this past season an "incomplete" grade at best for him.
It didn't go well against Green Bay for Howell, but he's still only 25 years old and flashed plenty of high-level traits when he was starting for the Commanders two seasons ago. With the QB1 job in Seattle guaranteed to go to Sam Darnold, Howell may find himself on the trade block.
According to an analysis by Krisopher Knox at Bleacher Report, Howell is one of six top trade target options for QB-needy teams around the NFL.
"Howell is entering the final year of his rookie contract and could be available if the Seahawks aren't planning to keep him beyond this season. He won't get a chance to compete for the starting job in Seattle, but he might be a viable option elsewhere... Turning just 25 in September, Howell is another young quarterback who could be viewed as an alternative to the 2025 QB class."
The other five quarterbacks that Bleacher Report mentions as potential trade-bait at QB are Kirk Cousins, Anthony Richardson, Aidan O'Connell, and Joe Milton - with an extra spot for trading up for the number one or two overall picks in the 2025 NFL draft.
Out of that group Howell is on the higher end, at least ahead of O'Connell and Cousins. With just a $1.1 million cap hit in 2025 his contract is far more palatable than Cousins, and even though it's a small sample size we'd take his arm over O'Connell seven days a week and twice on Sundays. Like Howell, Milton and Richardson are both great athletes who are young and relatively cheap.
The Seahawks already have a couple of other quarterback options on their roster, including Jaren Hall and John Rhys-Plumlee, though he's currently listed as a wide receiver.
If Sam Darnold were to get injured Seattle could end up missing Howell if they trade him, but they're likely to be screwed no matter what if Darnold does go down, anyway. If general manager John Schneider can conjur up another Day 3 pick for Howell it'd have to be considered a win.
