The Seattle Seahawks have only drafted two quarterbacks in 14 years with John Schneider calling the shots and the arrival of Howell may potentially keep that number at two for another year.
Shaking up their quarterback room after losing veteran backup Drew Lock in free agency, the Seattle Seahawks took a big swing for a potential future starter by acquiring Sam Howell in a draft pick swap from the Washington Commanders.
As part of the package, Seattle dealt away one of its two third-round picks – No. 78 overall – and a fifth-round pick to Washington for Howell, a fourth-round pick, and a sixth-round pick. While general manager John Schneider still has seven draft choices at his disposal next month, only two of them now come in the first 100 picks after moving down 24 spots into the fourth round after the swap.
“We were just really excited to be able to acquire him. We know he’s a serious dude and into it, he works his tail off,” Schneider said of the Howell trade in an interview on Seattle Sports 710 last Thursday.
Given the price paid to land him, his youth at 23 years old, and the fact he has two years left on his rookie deal with cap hits of less than $1.5 million, Howell could be viewed by Schneider as a pseudo draft choice under center much as he did with Lock two years ago following the Russell Wilson trade. After starting all 17 games for Washington and throwing for nearly 4,000 yards last season, he could still have franchise quarterback potential with proper coaching in the Pacific Northwest.
But does the deal decrease the odds of Seattle pursuing a quarterback in next month’s NFL draft? Hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang discuss and debate how Howell’s arrival may impact draft plans for Schneider, who has previously lamented only picking two players at the position in 14 years at the helm, and dive into his upside as a possible successor to Geno Smith down the line.
Smith and Rang also tackle listener mailbag questions and take a look at the latest series of expert mock drafts from a Seahawks perspective, including a pair of surprising mocks linking the franchise to tackles in the first round.
