The Minnesota Vikings were clearly in the market for a quarterback this offseason, ultimately and obviously to be J.J. McCarthy's backup. As free agent options were spoken for, a turn to the trade market became clear, and they made a deal with the Seattle Seahawks for Sam Howell on Day 3 of this year's NFL Draft.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah later revealed the team's interest in Howell dated back to the pre-draft process in 2022, but the timing wasn't right back then.
Looking toward training camp, Howell will ostensibly be competing with Brett Rypien for the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. As Judd Zulgad of SKOR North recently noted on his Substack, Howell will have to earn the trust of Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell.
An injury to McCarthy cannot throw the 2025 season off the rails after a notable spending spree in free agency, and in 2023, the Vikings experienced what happens when the starting quarterback goes down without a reliable plan behind him.
It's fair to assume Howell would have to be notably awful in training camp and preseason games to really open the door for Rypien to beat him out.
Howell's largest sample of NFL work was a mixed bag that tilted toward bad as an awful season for the Washington Commanders wore on, and he's just the kind of quarterback that will benefit greatly from working with O'Connell.
Minnesota Vikings get more confirmation that Sam Howell is their best option behind J.J. McCarthy
Gilbert Manzano of SI.com recently ranked Howell No. 11 in his ranking of NFL backup quarterbacks. Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports did a little better more recently, with the Vikings and Howell at No. 10 in his ranking of the top-10 backup quarterback situations in the league for 2025.
"Howell looked a bit lost in limited snaps with the Seattle Seahawks, but he profiles as a discount version of Sam Darnold in Minnesota, boosted by some of the game's top coaches and skill weapons.
A zealous arm with a full year of starting experience thanks to his time with the Washington Commanders, he's both young enough to grow (24) and tested enough to give the Vikings a scrappy Plan B behind J.J. McCarthy, the young man now in charge."
Using Sam Darnold as an example, the Vikings are the best situation that Howell has ever been a part of in his NFL career.
If he has to play this season, and maybe even if he doesn't have to play much (see Darnold with the 49ers in 2023), he could resurrect his career in similar fashion as another product of the O'Connell QB school.