Who Should I Start? Joshua Dobbs or Sam Howell

Monday, March 10, 6:18 PM

Free-agent veteran quarterback Joshua Dobbs reached an agreement with the New England Patriots on Monday on an undisclosed two-year deal, according to his agent, Mike McCartney. The 30-year-old journeyman signal-caller will head to the AFC East after spending the 2024 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Brock Purdy. Dobbs only appeared in two games (one start) for the Niners a season ago and went 32-for-47 for 361 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He saw his most action (13 games) with the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings in 2023 and threw for a career-high 2,464 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023, also adding 421 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 77 carries. Dobbs has gone 3-12 in his 15 career NFL starts. Turnovers and decision-making have been an issue, but he'll provide experience as a backup to second-year QB Drake Maye.

Tuesday, June 17, 12:11 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Howell was usually the second QB to rotate into team drills during offseason workouts behind J.J. McCarthy, which suggests that Howell is the front-runner for the No. 2 job. However, nothing he did this spring indicated that he will push McCarthy to start in 2025, according to ESPN's Kevin Seifert. "He's kind of like J.J.," head coach Kevin O'Connell said, "where he's made some throws where you're like, 'Man, probably shouldn't have made that throw. But I now know on this play, I've got to be careful of this.' And it's all growth." Behind Howell is Brett Rypien and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer. The Vikings acquired Howell in a trade this offseason with Seattle. The former fifth-rounder by the Commanders has completed 62.6% of his passes for 4,139 yards, 22 touchdowns and 23 picks in 20 games (18 starts) in his three NFL seasons.