Could Sam Howell be more than Seahawks’ QB2 behind Geno Smith?

SEATTLE — Hours after the Seattle Seahawks acquired Sam Howell in a trade with the Washington Commanders last week, general manager John Schneider set the record straight about the role they envision for their newest quarterback.

No, Schneider said, Howell isn’t coming in to compete with Geno Smith for the starting job.

“Geno’s the guy,” he told Seattle Sports 710-AM, “and Sam will be backing him up.”

After months of speculation about Smith’s future in Seattle, fueled by his dip in production in 2023 and some noncommittal comments from the team’s top decision-makers, the 12th-year veteran is still the Seahawks’ starter.

But for how long?

That question helps explain why Schneider and Mike Macdonald made Howell the first trade addition of their new partnership as GM and head coach. In parting with pick No. 78 (third round) and No. 152 (fifth) for Howell and pick No. 102 (fourth) and No. 179 (sixth), Seattle essentially gave up the equivalent of a midround pick for their next Drew Lock. That is, a young backup whom they feel has the traits to potentially develop into a quality, full-time starter.

Losing Lock in free agency could not have been easy for Seattle’s front office. After all, one of the main reasons why Schneider wanted to trade Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos over any of the quarterback’s other suitors was because Lock was the quarterback he wanted in return. But in replacing him with Howell, the Seahawks got four years younger and considerably cheaper at QB2.

They wanted to re-sign Lock but were beat out by the New York Giants, who gave him a one-year, $5 million deal (which is practically all guaranteed) and — according to Schneider — a promise that he could compete for the starting job. Seattle then pivoted to a trade for Howell, who has two years and a little over $2 million remaining on his rookie deal as a 2022 fifth-round pick. They had to compete with three other teams who were also trying to trade for him, according to Schneider.

“Talking to the Commanders and Adam Peters, their general manager, we were sweating that out,” Schneider told the station last Thursday. “There were several teams involved with it. Sam’s a football player, I think that’s the best way to describe it … I know everybody saw him play out here. He had a great day against us this past fall. He’s a quarterback, but he’s really a football player. That’s what I love about him. Really tough, young. He’s 23 years old and has 18 starts in the league already.”

Schneider then noted that Howell is the same age as some of the top quarterback prospects in this year’s draft — LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and South Carolina’s Spencer Rattler. He’s a year younger than Oregon’s Bo Nix, another projected early-round pick.

“We were just really excited to be able to acquire him,” Schneider said. “We know he’s a serious dude. He’s into it, he works his tail off. We got great reviews on him and we loved him coming out of college. So yeah, we’re happy to get him in the mix.”

That’s when Schneider volunteered that Smith is “the guy” and that Howell will back him up, a point he reaffirmed when asked a follow-up question.

It was the first time all offseason that either Schneider or Macdonald gave a firm declaration that Smith would remain Seattle’s starter, and — perhaps not coincidentally — it came only after the most likely window to trade him had closed.

A week before last month’s combine, Seattle converted Smith’s $9.6 million March roster bonus into a signing bonus, creating $4.8 million in cap space. On one hand, moving up that payment could have been viewed as the Seahawks committing to Smith as the starter for 2024, since the dead money they’d take on in a trade would now be increased by that amount. On the other hand, the timing suggests they may have been making Smith’s contract more tradable for potential suitors right before Schneider and every other general manager were about to convene in Indianapolis, where trade talks regularly go down.

The best chance for that may have come and gone, with several teams filling their quarterback needs during the first week of free agency and others in position to take one early in the draft.

Smith has two years remaining on his contract. As a result of his recent restructure, he’s now set to count $38.5 million against the 2025 salary cap, a hefty charge that Seattle would likely be reluctant to pay if Smith doesn’t take a step forward in 2024. He ranked seventh in QBR (62.8) in 2022, when he made the Pro Bowl on the initial ballot and won NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He dropped to 14th (59.5) last season.

Howell, meanwhile, posted the 24th-best QBR (42.4) last season as a first-year starter. He threw 21 touchdowns and a league-high 21 interceptions in 17 games. His 65 sacks also led the NFL, a product of throwing the ball more than any other quarterback (612 attempts), playing behind an offensive line that struggled at times to protect him, and his own propensity to hold onto the ball for too long. Howell curbed that issue over the second half of the season, taking 25 sacks over the final 10 games compared to 40 over the first seven.

The Seahawks like his arm talent and ability to extend plays. They saw those traits up close when Howell threw for 312 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions during a three-point Seattle win over the Commanders in November.

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“The day we played here, that hit home how tough he was, how strong he was, keeping his eyes downfield, finding the open receiver and, shoot, almost winning the game there at the end,” Schneider said.

“He’s young, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s just a football player. I keep coming back to that, but that’s a legit thing … Shoot, this past year, he threw it over 40 times in eight games. He threw it 50 times in two games. So it was rough sledding for him this past year with the Commanders. Obviously they’re picking high and probably feel like they can get one of these top quarterbacks in the draft. So they signed Marcus Mariota and we had great conversations with them and we’re blessed to be able to pull it off.”

If the Seahawks had any thought of trading up from No. 16 overall in April’s NFL draft and moving into the top 10 for a quarterback, then giving up one of their two third-round picks for Howell — while already having no second-rounder — could make that a non-starter. But if Smith doesn’t prove in 2024 to be the long-term answer, then they could give Howell a one-year trial run in 2025 and determine then if he’s their starter or a bridge to their next one.

In the meantime, Smith is the guy. For now.

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Could Sam Howell be more than Seahawks’ QB2 behind Geno Smith?

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