Vikings reportedly sign Carson Wentz after trading Sam Howell to Eagles originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
After watching Kyle McCord and Dorian Thompson-Robinson stumble through the summer, Howie Roseman went out and acquired veteran quarterback Sam Howell from the Vikings.
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The Eagles posted on social media Sunday morning that they traded a 5th-round pick in 2026 and a 7th-round pick in 2027 for Howell and a 6th-round pick in 2026.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that the Vikings signed Carson Wentz to replace Howell, his teammate with the Commanders in 2022, and the Eagles’ starting quarterback from 2016 through late in 2020.
The Vikings will be Wentz’s sixth team in the last six years.
Howell, 24, was the Commanders’ 5th-round pick in 2022. Almost all of his career playing time came in 2023, when he was Washington’s starter, throwing for 3,946 yards with 21 touchdowns and an NFL-high 21 interceptions. He was also sacked an NFL-leading 65 times, and the Commanders went 4-13 in his 17 starts.
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One of his top receivers with Washington in 2022 was current Eagle Jahan Dotson, who caught 46 passes for 475 yards and four touchdowns from Howell in 2023.
The Commanders traded Howell to the Seahawks last March, and he spent last year backing up Geno Smith, who didn’t miss any games. Howell only threw 14 passes for Seattle, who traded him to the Vikings in April.
Howell played in two preseason games this summer, completing 12 of passes for 118 yards with no TDs and one interception.
McCord, the Eagles’ rookie 6th-round pick, and Thompson-Robinson, acquired in the Kenny Pickett trade, both struggled in their preseason appearances. McCord completed 43 percent of his passes with one TD, two INTs and a 43.1 passer rating and DTR threw 16 passes for only 73 yards with no TDs, one INT and a 47.1 passer rating.
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Backup Tanner McKee suffered a finger injury on his right hand during practice on Aug. 18, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday afternoon that while it’s “not a major injury,” he did suffer a fracture in the top of his thumb on his right, throwing, hand. Rapoport reported that his availability for the opener “is in question,” adding that the Howell trade “likely would have happened anyway.”
Final cuts must be made by 4 p.m. Tuesday and it will be interesting to see whether the Eagles release McCord and try to get him through waivers to the practice squad or whether they keep four QBs on the active roster. No matter how poorly McCord played, he is a drafted quarterback and the Eagles would like to keep him in the building and try to develop him.
Howell is on the final year of his four-year rookie contract, which was worth $4.021 million, according to Spotrac. He’s due $1.1 million in base salary this year.
Wentz, the second pick in the 2016 draft, has been out of football since his contract with the Chiefs expired at the end of last year. The Eagles traded him to the Colts in March 2021, the Colts traded him to Washington in March 2022, the Commanders released him in February 2023 and then he spent 2023 with the Rams and 2024 with the Chiefs.
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Since going 11-2 for the Super Bowl champions before blowing out his knee against the Rams, Wentz is 29-35 in 64 starts. The last quarterback taken in the top five picks to play for six teams was Kerry Collins, the fifth pick in 1995. He spent time with the Panthers, Colts, Saints, Giants, Raiders and Titans.
The Eagles also waived safety Lewis Cine with an injury designation. Cine, 25, battled injuries all summer, although he did make an acrobatic interception off Adrian Martinez in the preseason finale against the Jets Friday night.
Cine, the Vikings’ 1st-round pick in 2022, has played only eight games since suffering a compound fracture in his left leg while playing for the Vikings in a game against the Saints at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London in Week 4 his rookie year. He played in one game with the Bills last year before finishing the season on the Eagles’ practice squad and receiving a Super Bowl ring.
