When Marcus Mariota broke midday Tuesday, BMitch & Finlay had two immediate questions: what does this mean for Sam Howell, and does it give an inkling into what the Commanders may do at No. 2?
They leaned into the latter and Jayden Daniels more, but later in the afternoon, Grant & Danny went deeper on the former – and unlike JP and Brian, Danny, at least, sees this as insurance, and not necessarily a sure sign Howell will be elsewhere.
“This is basically, again, insurance to me. Like, the way I think about it is, if you need someone to play a little bit, Marcus Mariota is your guy,” Danny said. “If you need someone to play for an extended period of time, presumably something happens to the rookie quarterback, then maybe you go back to Howell and do that sort of ‘hey, this year is a wash, we're not really in the business of playing a veteran on his fifth team in six years, there’s not much upside in that.’ There may be some in Howell.”
Oh, and don’t forget…
“This is one part mentorship, but Mariota also basically quit on the Atlanta Falcons and walked out in a way that wasn't particularly professional,” Danny said. “I’m hoping everybody feels assuaged in that regard and is eyes wide open as to why he's here; I’m sure some questions were asked and assurances were given, but it's an important data point.”
That said, it DOES make Howell more expendable, but Grant’s words were ‘what they do at No. 2 is the conversation, and the rest is furniture in the room.’
“You don't notice when you walk into someone's living room what color the chair is, and it doesn’t really matter to me – this is the backup quarterback,” GP said. “Off the bench, I think Mariota can be fine, but if he's starting for a stretch in Yea 1 of this operation, they're not going to be good in that stretch. The whole season is gonna be about the development of the young quarterback that they choose, and everything that they do this off-season should have been about bettering his situation and giving him the best chance to have a fluid and solid rookie year and a successful early career. Mariota is obviously extremely comfortable as a backup, but I would hope that they did some due diligence to find out that Mariota's a really good teammate, that he wants to play mentor, and is here to help answer questions.”
But what does he think it means for Howell?
“I think it gives you a chance to trade him if you get the right offer. I think the discussion today is what is Sam Howell worth on the market, and when does it become more valuable to you than having a prospect as a third QB who's flashed and shown some things,” GP said. “A sixth-round pick is not more valuable to me than having Sam Howell in my building still after the year he had. He screams to me high-end backup/low-end starter. If you get a fourth, absolutely, and if it’s a fifth from a bad team early in the round, that’s now a conversation – and you can now have that and answer the phone on Howell. Now, all of sudden, a four or five could turn into a starting tight end or a good linebacker if you hit on it, and that’s something that helps you a lot more than a third quarterback.”
To that point, then, maybe Washington SHOULD deal him?
“I take a pretty cutthroat approach to this thing in general, and I know not everybody thinks the way I do, but to me, I go, ‘is this person going to play for me for in the duration of his current contract? If the answer is no, then I'm looking to trade him,” Danny said. “I don't do it just to hear myself do it, and I’m not just giving guys away, but that's what I'm looking to do. The instant someone is no longer part of my plans, they are a bonus to me, and that's what Sam Howell is. You can find a third quarterback anytime, and the instant he’s not my plan anymore, I don't care about my third guy. I know that’s the minority on that one, because he did show some really good things last year, but the instant you start going in this other direction, when's he gonna play? He plays if something terrible happens, and if something terrible happens, something terrible has happened and I don't really care about the results at that point.”