Seahawks muscled out three teams for QB Sam Howell

Before Sam Howell was dealt to the Seahawks, the quarterback attracted interest from a handful of other suitors. As ESPN’s Brady Henderson writes, at least three other teams negotiated a Howell trade with the Commanders.

One of those squads is believed to be the Rams, who have already pivoted away from Carson Wentz as Matthew Stafford‘s primary backup. When the Rams lost out on the Howell sweepstakes to their division rival, they ended up pivoting to veteran Jimmy Garoppolo, who will miss the first two games of the season after being suspended for PEDs. There was some recent chatter that the Rams could be a suitor for Jets bust Zach Wilson and it seems pretty clear that the front office was looking to reset the QB depth chart with a veteran backup and a reclamation project.

Ultimately, the Seahawks won out, sending a third- and fifth-round pick to Washington for Howell, a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick. Seattle has made it very clear that Geno Smith still sits atop the depth chart, although general manager John Schneider recently admitted that his newest acquisition could “absolutely” be a full-time starter (via Henderson).

Howell was sacked a league-high 65 times last season. As Henderson notes, part of that blame has been placed on Howell, who has been criticized for holding the ball too long. However, the Seahawks are convinced the QB was “hesitant while playing behind a struggling O-line” and he could excel with better personnel.

With that in mind, the Seahawks still have work to do on their own offensive line, with both guard spots currently open. Henderson points to free agents Laken Tomlinson and Cody Whitehair as two potential targets for the organization.