The Seattle Seahawks currently have an abundance of depth in their quarterback room. So much so that they are ready to unload Sam Howell after trading a third and fifth-round pick to acquire him from Washington last offseason.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider says they are prepared to have Howell and the recently re-signed, Drew Lock battle for the backup spot behind Sam Darnold, however, the team is also open to trading the former.
It sounds like Seattle is searching for a trade partner for Howell
"Sam was put in a very hard spot last year," Schneider told Seattle Sports 710 AM. "He comes in, he's learning a new system. The year before, I think he led the league in attempts, and they didn't run the ball at all. We loved the toughness and everything. He comes in, learns a whole new system that was heavy, heavy dropback and gets thrown into a game where we're behind, we're throwing the ball every play, backed up. It didn't go well for him. He would admit that, probably from a preparation standpoint, too. But he wasn't put in a great spot."
This sounds more like a sales pitch than anything else looking to paint Howell in the best light for some unassuming trade partner. Schneider also went on to say that Seattle has four QBs they really like (Jaren Hall is fourth QB). Amazingly, Howell happens to be the one they’ve apparently decided to move on from after one year. They even brought Lock back into the fold.
Regardless of what Schneider says, it sounds like the Seahawks have had a change of heart about Howell as the primary backup to Darnold. In the NFL, QB2 is always a play away from being forced into action. We see it all the time and in multiple instances every season. It sounds like Schneider has far more trust in Lock than Howell and would rather cut his losses and hopefully gain a draft pick or two in the process.