Sam Howell part of Seattle Seahawks' flurry of draft trades

The Seattle Seahawks were busy on the trade front on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft. And it wasn’t just picks that were involved.

Seahawks NFL Draft Tracker: Keep up on every pick and trade

Seattle dealt quarterback Sam Howell as part a flurry that saw them make three trades in a matter of about 20 minutes late Saturday morning.

Here’s what the trades broke down to:

• Trade 1: Seahawks send No. 137 (fourth round) to New England Patriots for No. 144 (fifth round) and No. 238 (seventh round)

• Trade 2: Seahawks send QB Sam Howell and No. 172 (fifth round) to Minnesota Vikings for No. 142 (fifth round)

• Trade 3: Seahawks send No. 144 (fifth round) to Cleveland Browns for No. 166 (fifth round) and No. 192 (sixth round)

An interesting development out of that last trade is that Cleveland used Seattle’s original No. 144 pick to take Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who has been the talk of this draft after falling from a first-round projection all the way to Day 3.

As for Howell, his days in Seattle looked to be numbered when the Seahawks brought back backup QB Drew Lock earlier this month. Lock, who originally came to Seattle in 2022 from Denver in the Russell Wilson trade, spent a year with the New York Giants before coming back to the Pacific Northwest.

Howell looked even less likely to stay with Seattle when it drafted Alabama’s Jalen Milroe on Friday in the third round, giving them a whopping five QBs on the roster at the time.

In quite the turn of events, Howell goes to the Vikings, who had Sam Darnold as their QB last season. Darnold, a 2024 Pro Bowler, signed with the Seahawks in March to be their starter after Seattle dealt Geno Smith to Pete Carroll’s Las Vegas Raiders.

Howell was an offseason trade pickup by the Seahawks a year ago to be the backup to Smith, which came after Howell spent the 2023 season as starting QB for the Washington Commanders. He appeared in just two games with no starts last season for Seattle, completing 5 of 14 pass attempts for 24 yards and an interception.

A fifth-round draft pick by Washington in 2022 out of North Carolina, Howell started all 17 games for the Commanders in 2023, leading the NFL in both pass attempts (612) and interceptions (21). He completed 63.4% of his throws that year and threw 21 touchdowns.

With the pick acquired from Minnesota in the Howell trade Saturday, the Seahawks selected Notre Dame defensive lineman Rylie Mills.

The Seahawks made one previous trade during the 2025 draft, sending the No. 52 (second round) and No. 92 (third round) selections to Tennessee on Friday for the No. 35 (second round) pick, where they took South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori.