NFL Rumors: Seahawks Insider Expects Sam Howell to Push Geno Smith for Starting Job

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVMarch 21, 2024

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Geno Smith’s status as the Seattle Seahawks’ starting quarterback could be under a small level of threat in 2024 after the team acquired Sam Howell, according to ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

Henderson reported that “one Seahawks source said he thinks Howell has the talent and drive to push Smith for the starting job.” The source told Henderson the former Washington Commanders signal-caller will “battle his ass off.”

This does sound a little like the narrative when Seattle acquired Drew Lock in 2022 as part of the Russell Wilson trade.

Corbin K. Smith @CorbinSmithNFLI’ve been working on trying to learn Photoshop. It’s a work in progress, but feeling pretty good bout my first Sam Howell in a Seahawks uniform… pic.twitter.com/c16UKpJKM4

It seemed like at the very least Lock had a puncher’s chance of beating out Smith with Wilson gone. Then Smith not only won the starting job but also went on to claim Comeback Player of the Year.

The circumstances are a little different this time around, though.

Firing Pete Carroll and hiring Mike Macdonald as head coach signaled the start of a new era for the organization, one in which general manager John Schneider might be taking a longer view.

Smith is coming off a second straight Pro Bowl, but his performance did dip a little bit in 2023. His completion percentage (64.7), yards per game (241.6) and QBR (59.5) were all slightly below their 2022 equivalents.

Should the 33-year-old regress further as next season unfolds, Macdonald may feel less wedded to keeping him as the starter than Carroll would’ve.

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe reported on March 16 “the Seahawks have been high on Howell for a while.” Additionally, “teams like the Seahawks have been intrigued by Howell’s ability to step into the starting lineup with minimal experience and attempt the most passes in the NFL.”

Seattle presumably wouldn’t have moved for the 2022 fifth-round pick if it didn’t envision a scenario in which he’d be QB1 in the short- or long-term future.