New Quarterback Hits Trade Market for Steelers
A new quarterback trade option has been revealed for the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the Seattle Seahawks are open to trading quarterback Sam Howell, according to a report by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
Howell, 24, was a fifth-round pick of the Washington Commanders in the 2022 NFL Draft. Howell spent two seasons in Washington, one as the full-time starter before falling out of favor.
He was traded to the Seahawks last March, with a fourth- and sixth-round pick going with Howell to Seattle and a third-round and fifth-round pick going back to Washington. The Commanders then drafted quarterback Jayden Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
With the Seahawks, Howell was used sparingly as the backup Geno Smith. He appeared in two games, and threw just 14 passes for 24 yards.
This offseason, the Seahawks traded Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders, signed Sam Darnold from the Minnesota Vikings and re-signed Drew Lock in free agency, moving Howell to third on the team’s depth chart.
The Steelers have just two quarterbacks under contract, Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. General manager Omar Khan said he intends to add two more quarterbacks to the group before the start of training camp.
One of those could obviously be Aaron Rodgers, who has yet to make a decision about his future, but has remained in contact with the Steelers after his visit to Pittsburgh in March.
The other could come from the 2025 NFL Draft, where the Steelers have shown strong interest in players such as Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart and Jalen Milroe, among others.
But if one or the other of those paths doesn’t produce a player for Pittsburgh, Khan could call John Schneider back and make another deal. The two already connected for one major trade his offseason, with the Steelers acquiring wide receiver DK Metcalf for draft capital.
The Steelers were plenty interested in Howell coming out of North Carolina in 2022. They spent that offseason obsessing over the quarterback position in the pre-draft process, and Howell was a big part of that prep work, along with Liberty’s Malik Willis, and their eventual choice, Pitt’s Kenny Pickett.