Seahawks acquire QB Howell as backup to Smith

The Seattle Seahawks acquired quarterback Sam Howell in a trade with the Washington Commanders on Thursday.

Seattle received Howell, a fourth-round draft pick (No. 102 overall) and a sixth-rounder (No. 179) in exchange for picks in the third (No. 78) and fifth (No. 152) rounds. The third-rounder the Seahawks are giving up is their own — they have an extra pick in the round via a trade with the Denver Broncos last April.

The Howell trade is pending a physical.

During his weekly radio show on Thursday, Seahawks general manager John Schneider said “several” other teams were involved in possibly trading for Howell and that Seattle is acquiring him to be Geno Smith‘s backup – not to compete with Smith for the starting job.

“He had a great day against us this past fall,” Schneider told Seattle Sports 710-AM. “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. He’s the same age as like [Jayden] Daniels from LSU and [Spencer] Rattler and [Michael] Penix [Jr.], and he’s a year younger than Bo Nix.

“We were just really excited to be able to acquire him. 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. Geno’s the guy and Sam will be backing him up.”

Howell, who started for Washington last season, threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to the Seahawks in November.

Howell solidifies the Seahawks’ quarterback depth after Drew Lock agreed to sign with the New York Giants in free agency. Smith and Howell are the only quarterbacks on Seattle’s roster.

Howell has two years and $2.085 million remaining on the rookie deal he signed with Washington as a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina in 2022. The Seahawks do not own a second-round pick this year, limiting their options for drafting a quarterback. After the trade for Howell, they have one first-round pick (No. 16 overall), a third, two fourths, two sixths and a seventh.

Howell started all 17 games last season, throwing an NFL-high 612 passes. He finished with the 12th-most yards in the NFL at 3,946. He also threw 21 touchdowns and 21 interceptions and was sacked an NFL-high 65 times.

After 10 games, Howell led the NFL in passing yards (2,783) and was fifth in touchdowns (17). But in his last seven games, he threw only four touchdown passes and was intercepted 12 times, and the Commanders lost eight in a row to finish the season.

Howell started one game in 2022, leading Washington to a 26-6 season-finale win over the Dallas Cowboys. Shortly after the season ended, then-Washington coach Ron Rivera proclaimed him the starter entering the offseason. Howell maintained the job ahead of veteran Jacoby Brissett.

The Commanders signed Marcus Mariota in free agency and are expected to select a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the draft. The Commanders now have six picks in the top 100 and seven in the top 102.

Also on Thursday, the Seahawks announced they have signed former Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson. The deal is for one year, a source told ESPN.

Dodson, 25, rose from an undrafted free agent in 2019 to a starter in Buffalo, posting career-highs last season with 74 tackles, 2.5 sacks and eight tackles for loss. His addition helps fill one of the Seahawks’ biggest remaining roster holes after Seattle let Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks sign elsewhere in free agency.

ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this report.