The Draft Served a Vikings’ QB2 Target Right on a Silver Platter
The Minnesota Vikings have acquired a pair of players in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft, adding offensive guard Donovan Jackson to replace Blake Brandel and complete the interior offensive line overhaul, as well as Tai Felton, a wideout out of Maryland with remarkable physical tools, but who might need some polish first.
The Draft Served a Vikings’ QB2 Target Right on a Silver Platter
One spot they haven’t addressed in the draft, but also in the months ahead of it, is the QB2 position. The club has only two quarterbacks under contract for the upcoming season: first-year starter J.J. McCarthy and veteran QB3 Brett Rypien.
McCarthy is unproven and coming off an injury. In addition to that, having a solid backup is key to keeping a season alive if the starter isn’t available for whatever reason, as numerous past Vikings campaigns have shown.
The free agent market is pretty dry at this point, so the trade path could be an option.
One of the best prospects there had been Sam Howell entering the draft, and now it’s become even more evident that his future isn’t in Seattle. The Seahawks began the offseason with Geno Smith as their entrenched starting quarterback, but shipped him to Las Vegas.
Editor’s Note: The Vikings did, in fact, trade for the backup later on Saturday. Read about the trade here.
Instead, it’s the Sam Darnold show going forward. Minnesota’s departed Pro Bowler signed a three-year deal. The next step was the acquisition of backup Drew Lock, already putting the league on notice about a potential Howell trade.
The demoted signal-caller watched another passer arrive in Seattle during the third round of the draft. Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, a freak athlete with a raw passing game, will learn from Darnold and Lock.
That makes three QBs. Jaren Hall is also in the quarterback room. Minnesota’s 2023 fifth-rounder could once again eye a spot on the practice squad.
There’s no room for Howell.
That trade possibility was documented last week.
“The Seahawks are open to trading Sam Howell and have received inquiries from teams interested in acquiring their backup quarterback, sources have told ESPN,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Brady Henderson reported Friday.
Howell was also traded a year ago. The Commanders drafted him in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, but when the new regime arrived a year ago, they sent the starter from the previous year to Seattle for a couple of pick swaps.
In 20 career games (18 starts), Howell has completed 62.6% of his passes for 4,139 yards, 28 total touchdowns (22 passing, 6 rushing), and 23 interceptions. He added exactly 300 rushing yards.
For the Vikings, Howell should be gettable pretty cheap, perhaps even for a late-round pick swap that barely matters when the draft rolls around. The quarterback is clearly the odd-man out in Seattle, and his two shaky performances in place of Smith didn’t help his stock.
In 2022, Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah facilitated the trade for Nick Mullens, another player with a bunch of interceptions and some starting experience on his resume. Howell is probably even a little more athletic.
If not Howell, then who?
The most prominent free agents are Ryan Tannehill, Carson Wentz, and Tyler Huntley. Other experienced backups are Jeff Driskel and C.J. Beathard, and then there’s Desmond Ridder, a 2022 third-rounder.
Additional trade options could be Aidan O’Connell and Will Levis.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.