While the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to focus their attention at the quarterback position on Aaron Rodgers and the big-name quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft, a quarterback they did plenty of work on leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft finds himself available via trade.
That would be former North Carolina standout and current Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Seahawks beat writer Brady Henderson, the Seahawks are open to trading Howell, one year after acquiring him from the Washington Commanders.
The Seahawks have received some inquires. One of those teams plausibly could be the Steelers, who did a great deal of work on Howell coming out of college.
For CBS Sports’ Tyler Sullivan, the Steelers are the best landing spot for Howell considering they have a significant need at quarterback. Along with the Steelers, the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were highlighted as landing spots for Howell.
“The Steelers currently have the NFL’s most in-flux quarterback situation. Unless and until Aaron Rodgers signs a contract with Pittsburgh, its only quarterbacks are Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. That’s … not ideal,” Sullivan writes. “Neither is Howell, obviously, but he at least has a higher floor than Thompson and a higher ceiling than Rudolph.”
Howell can’t be viewed as an answer at quarterback for the Steelers, but with Rudolph the only quarterback on the roster under contract for 2026, the Steelers have a significant need at the position both in 2025 and next year, at least from a depth perspective.
When it comes to the Steelers and Howell, the dots are easy to connect, even if the personnel within the front office aren’t around anymore. He was one of six quarterbacks to visit the Steelers in 2022 and the team held a formal meeting with him at the Combine. The team also heavily attended his Pro Day, though the personnel members there are largely gone.
Kevin Colbert retired, Matt Canada was fired, and Brandon Hunt is now with the Philadelphia Eagles’ front office. But Mike Tomlin remains, and as Alex Kozora noted last week Howell had a pre-draft visit with Atlanta that year, too, when Arthur Smith was the Falcons’ head coach.
While Pittsburgh still awaits a decision from the 41-year-old Rodgers, and has some attention on the 2025 NFL Draft, a player like Howell could be a nice buy-low candidate from a team it has a trading history with this offseason in the Seahawks.
