Drew Lock is in. And Sam Howell could be out.
ESPN reports that the Seahawks are open to trading Howell, and that the Seahawks have been “receiving inquiries” from interested teams.
The Seahawks currently have four quarterbacks under contract — Sam Darnold, Lock, Howell, and Jaren Hall. Lock recently signed with Seattle.
Howell, who arrived in a trade last year with the Commanders, enters the fourth year of his rookie deal. He was a fifth-round pick out of North Carolina in 2022.
In his second season, Howell started 17 games for Washington, throwing for 3,946 yards, 21 touchdown passes, and a league-leading 21 interceptions.
G.M. John Schenider recently told Seattle Sports 710-AM that the Seahawks are prepared to let Lock and Howell compete for the backup job. Lock spent 2023 with the Seahawks before signing with the Giants in 2024.
“Sam was put in a very hard spot last year,” Schneider said, via ESPN.com. “He comes in, he’s learning a new system. The year before, I think he led the league in attempts, and they didn’t run the ball at all. We loved the toughness and everything. He comes in, learns a whole new system that was heavy, heavy dropback and gets thrown into a game where we’re behind, we’re throwing the ball every play, backed up. It didn’t go well for him. He would admit that, probably from a preparation standpoint, too. But he wasn’t put in a great spot.”
Schneider was referring to the opportunity Howell received when he entered a December game against the Packers, and completed only five of 14 passes for 24 yards and an interception.
The Seahawks became interested in Howell after he completed 29 of 44 passes for 312 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in a 29-26 Seattle win over Washington during the 2023 season.
Howell is due to make $1.1 million in 2025. He instantly becomes a candidate to be traded to a team that needs a quarterback and that either doesn’t land a suitable prospect in the draft or that is willing to address the need before the draft by making a deal.
The Seahawks officially signed Drew Lock this week and his return to Seattle gives the team four quarterbacks on the 90-man roster, but they may not be done adding to the group.
Former Alabama starter Jalen Milroe visited the team this week and General Manager John Schneider suggested last week that he thinks this is a better quarterback class than some other people. Those comments came before word of Lock’s agreement broke, but Schneider said on Seattle Sports 710 this week that Lock’s arrival doesn’t close the door on picking up a rookie.
“I think it’s a great situation,” Schneider said. “We have four guys that we really like. . . . It doesn’t preclude us from doing anything in the draft either, in figuring out what’s going on there. It’s really like an, ‘OK, let’s get this in the mix.’ Drew had other opportunities, so we figured we better wrap this up, kind of put a bow on it, get him in the building and then let’s see what happens in the draft, because it’s difficult to find that great fit at quarterback as you move through the process.”
Schneider said he expects Lock and Sam Howell to compete for the No. 2 job — Jaren Hall is the other quarterback behind starter Sam Darnold — so any draft pick would likely be slated for a developmental role in Seattle.
The Seahawks hosted fullback Adam Prentice on a free agent visit, according to the NFL’s transactions wire.
Seattle wants to add a fullback to its roster, and Prentice played for new Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak last season in New Orleans.
Prentice, 28, spent the past four seasons with the Saints.
He played 25 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in 17 games in 2024, making seven starts. Prentice’s only stats came on special teams, where he made seven tackles in 218 snaps.
Prentice began his career with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and then moved to the Saints as a waiver claim after final cuts. He played 623 offensive snaps and 575 special teams snaps in 48 games with the Saints.
Prentice has nine carries for 26 yards and eight catches for 37 yards in those appearances. He’s also been credited with 16 special teams tackles.
Cornerback Will Johnson was finally able to do some drills for NFL teams at a workout earlier this week and the former Michigan star is wrapping up the pre-draft visit period in Seattle.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Johnson is at the Seahawks facility to meet with the team on Wednesday. Johnson and Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald did not overlap at Michigan, but they worked with plenty of the same people in Ann Arbor.
The Seahawks, who have the 18th overall pick, took Devon Witherspoon in the first round two years ago and have Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe on hand at cornerback as well.
Johnson dealt with injuries during the 2024 season and a hamstring injury led to his delayed workout, which did not include a 40-yard dash. When healthy, Johnson was highly productive for the Wolverines and had three interception returns for touchdowns over his final two college years.
Jalen Milroe’s busy pre-draft season is continuing out West this week.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Milroe is taking a pre-draft visit with the Seahawks on Tuesday and will meet later this week with the Rams.
The Seahawks signed Sam Darnold to a three-year deal and recently added Drew Lock to be a backup. But the club still could draft Milroe as a developmental prospect.
Los Angeles has Matthew Stafford but the franchise and veteran quarterback appear to be year-to-year at this point in Stafford’s career. Head coach Sean McVay said at the league meeting that it’s unlikely the club would draft a QB early, saying he hadn’t “done a whole lot of work on the quarterbacks.”
Milroe, 22, has spent time with several teams leading up to the draft next week. He’s notably set to have a private workout with the Giants later this week.
The Alabama product threw for 2,844 yards with 16 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2024, also rushing for 726 yards and 20 scores. He was 21-6 as a starter, but only 9-4 this season with losses to Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Michigan.
Former Washington State receiver Kyle Williams is having a busy April.
Per NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo, a total of nine teams have set up pre-draft visits with Williams. He was with the Dolphins on Sunday and is set to visit the Bears, 49ers, and Seahawks this week.
Williams, 22, played his first three collegiate seasons at UNLV and spent the last two years with Washington State. He finished the 2024 season with 70 catches for 1,198 yards and 14 touchdowns in 13 games.
He played 50 career games for UNLV and Washington State, catching 248 passes for 3,609 yards with 29 TDs.
Williams impressed at the scouting combine with his 4.4-second 40-yard dash and is projected to be a second or third-round pick in this year’s draft.
Most people expect Cam Ward to be the first player selected in this year’s draft, but there isn’t much certainty about where other quarterbacks will wind up coming off the board later this month.
That’s a stark difference from last year’s draft. Quarterbacks went with the first three picks and six were taken in the first 12 selections, so it’s natural to assume that this year’s crop of quarterbacks is seen as a weaker one around the league.
Seahawks General Manager John Schneider pushed back at that assumption, however. During his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports, Schneider said that the lack of big names at the top of the draft does not mean there aren’t good players available.
“I’d be careful when you hear people say this isn’t a great draft,” Schneider said, via the team’s website. “I think it depends on the team, the player, the quarterback, how you’re going to acquire him, where you’re going to acquire him. Bringing him through the building is really about, we need more time, we need more answers, and we need more time with this player based on the questions that we need answered in terms of the vision we see for this player and the fit.”
The Seahawks have met with some quarterbacks, but signing Sam Darnold and Drew Lock to go with the returning Sam Howell likely makes their need at the position a less pressing one than it looked like it might be this offseason.
Drew Lock is headed back to the Pacific Northwest.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Lock has agreed to terms on a contract with the Seahawks.
Lock, 28, previously spent two seasons with Seattle. He was a part of the Russell Wilson trade in 2022, heading to the Seahawks after playing his first three seasons with the Broncos.
While he did not play in a game in 2022, he made four appearances with two starts in 2023. He completed 63.2 percent of his throws that year for 543 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions — highlighted by a 20-17 comeback victory over the Eagles on a Monday night in December.
Lock spent 2024 with the Giants, appearing in eight games with five starts. He finished the season having completed 59.1 percent of his passes for 1,071 yards with six touchdowns and five picks.
The Broncos selected Lock in the second round of the 2019 draft and he started 21 games for the club before being traded to Seattle.
Now back with the Seahawks, Lock is set to back up Sam Darnold in 2025.
Sam Darnold joined a new team when he signed with the Seahawks last month, but the quarterback has a prior relationship with one key member of the staff in Seattle.
Darnold and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak were both with the 49ers during the 2023 season and Darnold said that their time with the Seahawks’ NFC West rival will help build a foundation for the offense that they are building for the 2025 campaign.
“Me and Klint Kubiak, the offensive coordinator there, have had a ton of conversations about what that looks like,” Darnold said during an interview with Laura Rutledge of ESPN. “It’s really fun to just be able to take some of the things that we really worked together with in San Francisco in ’23, some of the stuff that he worked with or got to learn in New Orleans last year and kinda the stuff I learned last year in Minnesota and just kinda collaborate on some of those things. Klint is a great offensive coordinator, a great offensive mind.”
Darnold’s year in Minnesota was more successful than Kubiak’s brief run with the Saints and the Seahawks are hoping that the quarterback will be able to keep that momentum going in a new offensive system.
The Seahawks narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season, going 10-7 and finishing behind the NFC West champion Rams based off the strength of victory tiebreaker. Now entering their second season under head coach Mike Macdonald, Seattle now has a new-look offense. QB Geno Smith was traded to the Raiders, with the Seahawks bringing in Sam Darnold to take over at quarterback.
At wide receiver, DK Metcalf was traded to the Steelers and veteran WR Tyler Lockett was released, but the team did bring in Cooper Kupp to pair with Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Despite trading their 4th round pick to Tennessee last season in a move for LB Ernest Jones and the Giants holding Seattle’s 5th round pick from the 2023 trade for DL Leonard Williams, the Seahawks still have 10 picks in this year’s draft.
Seattle Seahawks 2025 NFL Draft Picks
Round 1: No. 18
Round 2: No. 50
Round 2: No. 52 (from PIT)
Round 3: No. 82
Round 3: No. 92 (from DET via NYJ and LV)
Round 4: No. 137 (Compensatory)
Round 5: No. 172 (Compensatory)
Round 5: No. 175 (Compensatory)
Round 7: No. 223 (from NO via PHI and PIT)
Round 7: No. 234
