Sam Howell, who spent the past year as the Eagles’ 3rd-string quarterback, is signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday evening.
With Tanner McKee out with a broken right thumb, the Eagles acquired Howell after training camp last August from the Vikings along with a 6th-round pick in exchange for a 2026 5th-round pick and a 2027 7th-round pick.
Howell began the season as Jalen Hurts’ backup before moving into the No. 3 spot once McKee returned in Week 4. He never got into a game in an Eagles uniform.
Howell’s departure leaves Hurts and McKee as the only quarterbacks on the roster.
Howell was the Commanders’ 5th-round pick in 2022, backing up Carson Wentz in 2022 and going 4-13 with 21 touchdowns and 21 interceptions in 2023.
The Commanders traded him to the Seahawks in March 2024 and he threw just two passes, completing one for two yards, with Seattle. The Seahawks traded Howell to the Vikings in April of 2026, but they in turn shipped him to the Eagles before he had played a snap, and he was replaced by Wentz.
Howell, 25, joins a Cowboys quarterbacks room that includes only former Patriots 4th-round pick Joe Milton in addition to Dak Prescott. The Cowboys are his fifth team in five seasons.
Previous quarterbacks who have spent time with both the Eagles and Cowboys include Rodney Peete, Randall Cunningham and Mark Sanchez.
Howell was the latest in a long line of veteran quarterbacks the Eagles have brought in under Nick Sirianni.
Gardner Minshew II backed up Hurts in 2021 and 2022, Marcus Mariota in 2023 and Kenny Pickett in 2024 before McKee was ready to assume the No. 2 role last year.
Minshew is now with the Cardinals, Mariota the Commanders and Pickett the Panthers.
There has been a notion that the Eagles might consider trading McKee, whose rookie contract is up after this coming season, but it’s unclear what his value is and what it would take to pry him loose. If they do trade McKee, they would have to completely rebuild the quarterback room behind Hurts.