With a trade and a free-agent pickup on Sunday morning, the Vikings reshaped their quarterback room.
They traded Sam Howell to the Eagles, along with a 2026 sixth-round pick, for a 2026 fifth-rounder and a 2027 seventh-rounder. Almost simultaneously, they signed Carson Wentz, the former Eagles MVP candidate who worked out with the team on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Wentz becomes the Vikings’ veteran backup behind J.J. McCarthy, bringing both familiarity with the team’s offensive structure (thanks to his 2023 stint with the Rams) and its coaching staff (Vikings QB coach Josh McCown backed up Wentz in Philadelphia during his final season as a player in 2019).
Wentz, a former star in Bismarck, N.D., and at North Dakota St., was the No. 2 overall pick by the Eagles in the 2016 draft. He tore the ACL in his left knee late in the 2017 season, when Philadelphia won the Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Vikings acquired Sam Howell during the draft in April, but he struggled in the preseason and training camp. (Rebecca Villagracia/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Wentz spent five years with the Eagles before being traded to the Colts in 2021. He started every game that season for Indianapolis, then was dealt to Washington in 2022. He missed half the 2022 season with a fractured finger. After being released by the Commanders in 2023, he’s been a backup for the Rams and Chiefs.
The Vikings’ deal with the Eagles is their second involving a veteran in the past week, after they traded defensive tackle Harrison Phillips to the Jets. The Howell deal helped them recoup the 2027 seventh-rounder they lost in the Phillips deal, while the 2026 sixth-rounder they sent to the Eagles came after they landed Denver’s sixth-rounder in the deal with the Jets.
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