{"id":807125,"date":"2026-03-11T22:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/807125\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T22:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T22:19:17","slug":"former-unc-quarterback-signs-free-agency-deal-with-dallas-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/807125\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UNC quarterback signs free agency deal with Dallas Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There&#8217;s five months until professional football is played again, but NFL free agency is very active in its early stages. One of the many moves involves <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/uncs-time-passing-yards-td-010329273.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sam Howell;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Sam Howell&quot;}\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sam Howell<\/a>, the former UNC quarterback who holds numerous school records.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the <a href=\"https:\/\/cowboyswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/cowboys\/2026\/03\/10\/cowboys-qb-sam-howell-free-agency-signing\/89092939007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Dallas Cowboys;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Dallas Cowboys&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Dallas Cowboys<\/a> announced they are signing Howell to a 1-year deal. Howell likely serves as Dak Prescott&#8217;s backup.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Howell started his first NFL game against &#8220;America&#8217;s Team&#8221; back in 2022, when the <a href=\"https:\/\/commanderswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/commanders\/2026\/03\/10\/washington-commanders-free-agency-sam-howell-sign-cowboys\/89093255007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Washington Commanders;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Washington Commanders&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Washington Commanders<\/a> won a 22-6 game to close both teams&#8217; regular season. In that game, Howell completed 11-of-19 passes for 169 yards, one passing touchdown and interception apiece, while adding 35 rushing yards and a score.<\/p>\n<p>Howell spent last season with the <a href=\"https:\/\/theeagleswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/eagles\/2026\/03\/10\/cowboys-sign-sam-howell-nfl-free-agency-eagles\/89092936007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Philadelphia Eagles;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Philadelphia Eagles&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>, but didn&#8217;t play a single down. <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/football\/2024\/08\/19\/sam-howell-impresses-seattle-seahawks-preseason\/74855620007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Howell played sparingly;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Howell played sparingly&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Howell played sparingly<\/a> for the <a href=\"https:\/\/seahawkswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/seahawks\/2025\/04\/26\/seahawks-trade-qb-sam-howell-to-minnesota-vikings-for-5th-round-pick\/83296192007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Seattle Seahawks;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Seattle Seahawks&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Seattle Seahawks<\/a> in 2024, which came one season after a failed, turnover-ridden run as <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/football\/2023\/04\/25\/where-cbs-sports-ranks-sam-howell-among-nfc-starters\/78809664007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Washington&#039;s starting quarterback.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Washington&#039;s starting quarterback.&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Washington&#8217;s starting quarterback.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ironically, Howell will play for his <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/football\/2023\/12\/20\/could-sam-howells-starting-time-in-washington-be-in-danger\/78746646007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:third NFC East team in his young NFL career;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;third NFC East team in his young NFL career&quot;}\" class=\"link \">third NFC East team in his young NFL career<\/a>, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/giantswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/giants\/2024\/06\/08\/all-32-nfl-teams-including-new-york-giants-ranked-by-their-qb-room\/79605173007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:New York Giants;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;New York Giants&quot;}\" class=\"link \">New York Giants<\/a> being the only squad he still has to suit up for.<\/p>\n<p>Howell starred as a Tar Heel from 2019-2021, helping them win their most recent bowl game, a 55-13 drubbing of Temple in 2019. Howell later finished his North Carolina career third in ACC history with 92 passing touchdowns, fifth with 111 TDs responsible for, plus eighth in total yardage (11,292).<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Unless Prescott injures himself, Howell&#8217;s path to playing time is very slim in the Lone Star State. It&#8217;s good to see the <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/football\/2023\/12\/27\/commanders-bench-qb-sam-howell-in-week-16\/78744645007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:former UNC standout;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;former UNC standout&quot;}\" class=\"link \">former UNC standout<\/a> still in the league, though, as he&#8217;ll get the chance to earn preseason minutes in August.<\/p>\n<p>Follow us\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/tarheelswire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:@TarHeelsWire;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;@TarHeelsWire&quot;}\" class=\"link \">@TarHeelsWire<\/a>\u00a0on X and like our page on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TarHeelsWire\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Facebook;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Facebook&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/ncaaf\/teams\/north-carolina-tar-heels\/3412\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Tar Heels;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Tar Heels&quot;}\" class=\"link \">Tar Heels<\/a> news, notes and opinions.<\/p>\n<p>This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: <a href=\"https:\/\/tarheelswire.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/college\/tarheels\/football\/2026\/03\/11\/unc-football-sam-howell-dallas-cowboys-nfl-free-agency\/89105499007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:UNC football: Sam Howell signs free agency deal with Dallas Cowboys;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;UNC football&quot;}\" class=\"link \">UNC football: Sam Howell signs free agency deal with Dallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There&#8217;s five months until professional football is played again, but NFL free agency is very active in its&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":807126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,1370,229,257,2461,7,56,6,109,2336,261,111],"class_list":["post-807125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-cowboys","tag-cowboys","tag-dak-prescott","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallascowboys","tag-football","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-sam-howell","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-washington-commanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116212869889636972","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=807125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/807125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/807126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=807125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=807125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=807125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}