New Seahawks QB Sam Howell has time to grow into the eventual starter
Sam Howell is a new Seattle Seahawks quarterback, but he's not the quarterback. In a year or two, he absolutely could be. He might take the Rolling Stones hit to heart: "Time is on my side."
The Seahawks may have started the NFL free agent race slowly, but they picked up speed as it continued. Not to say we told you so, but we told you so. Every year, it seems some 12s want a big splash signing. Every year, the Hawks take their time and make solid deals that prove to be much better for the team overall. Let's look at last year. Which was more important, getting Dre'mont Jones for an average of $17 million, or Jarran Reed, Julian Love, and Bobby Wagner for the same amount? I think you know the answer to that.
We expect to see similar results this year. While other teams made more noise on day one, John Schneider swooped in for perhaps the biggest steal of the free-agent period so far by signing linebacker Tyrel Dodson. Signing a backup quarterback isn't exactly as impactful as a starting linebacker, it's true, But bringing Sam Howell to the Seahawks could be just as big in the long term.
The Seattle Seahawks may have the QB of the future. Maybe.
I'll preface my thoughts on Sam Howell with some thoughts from Lee Vowell, our intrepid site expert. As you may have surmised from my opening statements. I don't think John Schneider brought Howell to the Seahawks to compete for the starting job. Apparently, Adam Schefter thinks that's the case, but he's wrong. Sure, he'll compete for the job, the way any player on an NFL roster competes. But when Schneider said, "Geno is the guy, and Sam will be backing him up."
As reported by John Boyle for seahawks.com, Schneider was asked for clarification on his statement about his view of Howell's status. Seems he made it pretty clear already, but okay, sure, ask again. The Hawks GM responded, " Well I'm sure there's competition, but it's not like we're signing him to go and compete with Geno to be the starter. But he's going to be giving it a run, he's a competitive guy." So I think maybe, just maybe, that means Howell was signed to be the backup quarterback. I think I'll email John and ask him since a lot of 12s are convinced Howell has the QB1 job in his pocket.