EAGAN, Minn. — Go ahead and put an asterisk next to the Vikings' 5-man* draft class.

Some maneuvering Friday and Saturday enabled Minnesota to take five players in total, expanding on the four selections the team held when the clock started Thursday night.

The Vikings narrowly missed breaking the franchise record for fewest picks in a draft, instead tying with the five selections in 2008 and in 2009. However, a sixth player was picked up by the Vikings.

In Round 5, Minnesota sent pick No. 142, which had been acquired Friday night, to Seattle for quarterback Sam Howell and the 172^nd choice.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell joined NFL Network's Rich Eisen on the third day of the 2025 NFL Draft to discuss the team's picks and give an update on the quarterbacks room after trading for Howell, a 2022 fifth-round pick.

"We still think that there's a lot in Sam's game to develop but also see where he can take it within our system, within our quarterback development plan here in Minnesota," O'Connell said. "[We] feel really good about Josh McCown [coaching] that quarterbacks room, and all the talent, and the things we've acquired – whether [it's] up front; the skill guys we do have that we feel so great about, and then just our system going into Year 4, the evolution of that becoming as quarterback friendly as we can make it, while also challenging defenses and trying to do the things that it takes to win football games."

Howell was the sixth of nine drafted quarterbacks in 2022 and originally suited up for Washington. Among that group, he's second with 22 career passing touchdowns, only trailing San Francisco's Brock Purdy – "Mr. Irrelevant" that year – who is responsible for 64 in twice as many games played.

The quarterbacks selected ahead of Howell in the 2022 cycle were Cleveland's Kenny Pickett (20^th by Pittsburgh), free agent Desmond Ridder (74^th by Atlanta), Green Bay's Malik Willis (86^th by Tennessee), free agent Matt Corral (94^th by Carolina) and Kansas City's Bailey Zappe (137^th by New England).

On the Seahawks last season, Howell appeared in relief in two games and recorded minimal statistics. He'll be inserted into a Vikings QBs room that features 2024 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy and 28-year-old former undrafted free agent Brett Rypien, who was integral to the scout team a year ago.

O'Connell, who was hired by the Vikings just months before the 2022 NFL Draft, said Howell was a player Minnesota did its homework on when he was coming out of North Carolina. At the time, Howell was a three-year college starter with all types of gaudy numbers and conference recognition going for him, including a handful of single-season and career Tar Heels passing records and inclusion on All-ACC teams.

Now, he's a 24-year-old with three seasons of NFL experience, including one in which he started 17 games for the Commanders and passed for just short of 4,000 yards at a 63.4-percent clip. In that 2023 sampling, Howell led Washington to a 4-13 mark and grew, painfully, through a league-worst 65 sacks and as many interceptions as touchdowns (21). There were hard lessons – but there were also flashes.

Howell went 39-for-52 with 397 passing yards and a 4:1 touchdown-to-pick ratio against Philadelphia in Week 8 that season. Two games later at Seattle, he compiled a 29-of-44 line, with 312 yards, three TDs and no interceptions. Overall, in 2023, Howell rushed for 30 or more yards in seven contests and completed at least 65% of his throws eight times. His woes were underpinned by a ton of responsibility.

Put bluntly, the Commanders struggled in the run game – their leading rusher gained 733 yards. Their offensive line started nine different players, and their defense surrendered 30.5 points per game (more than anyone else).

After trial-by-fire in Washington, Howell was dealt to Seattle and backed up Geno Smith in 2024. His moving again could wind up being a beneficial reset for his career, and an aid to Minnesota's QB plans.

Following Minnesota's final selection at 202 in Round 6, General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah recapped how the Vikings accomplished manipulating the board to end up with Howell, who they'd engaged about for a little bit, and were familiar with dating to Adofo-Mensah's first draft at the helm.

"[He's] somebody that a lot of people in this building had appreciation for when the opportunity struck," Adofo-Mensah said, mentioning there's a mutual excitement for the continuation of Howell's QB journey.

Adofo-Mensah echoed O'Connell's comments that Minnesota did its "work" on Howell ahead of the draft that year, but determined it wasn't the right time to "make such an investment" because of the nuances in selecting a quarterback versus maybe other positions; beyond the evaluation of statistics and film, there's a high level of commitment – Adofo-Mensah used the word "marriage" — that's demanded.

"You've got to meet the friends, you've got to meet the family, you've got to do all that, that sort of courtship," Adofo-Mensah said, before dishing on a tough QB reality. "We say a lot that organizations fail quarterbacks long before quarterbacks fail organizations. And we didn't want to be one of those.

"But he was, [from] a pure talent [standpoint], and all those other things we talked about, he was high up on our board," Adofo-Mensah added. "And sometimes it happens in life, and maybe a person you're dating, it's not the right time and place, but then, you know, later on in life, it happens at a better time."

The most important marriage in Minnesota right now is of course the one to McCarthy, who's still top of mind for O'Connell and everyone else as the Vikings gently shift their focus to future offseason activities.

"He's really been in the building the whole offseason completing his rehab," O'Connell told Eisen, an avid Michigan fan and alumnus. "He's healthy. He's in a great spot. And I know he was very excited to get all his teammates back this week, and they were all excited to see him. And we're hitting the ground running this spring.

"As the head coach and play caller of this team," he continued, "I feel really good about the roster we have right now."

After arming up its QBs room with Howell, the Vikings announced they agreed to terms Saturday with undrafted free agent and local prospect Max Brosmer, who excelled for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2024, completing a single-season school record 268 passes after starring for five years at New Hampshire.

As part of his post-draft recap (and prior to adding Brosmer), Adofo-Mensah elaborated on the thinking behind trading for Howell, and why his specific "quarterback portfolio" was viewed as complementary to what the Vikings have in-house. With O'Connell's insights, they weighed different scenarios and the ways Howell could impact the team, whether it's coming off the bench in a game, or needing him for a stretch of games, and how he fits in relation to the group of players around him. That is, does Howell make sense here?

There were additional brainstorms, as well, like configuring a disbursement of reps amongst quarterbacks, and specifically McCarthy, because he's trying to establish himself after so many on-field opportunities were postponed by a knee injury last August. Plenty of practice reps will be directed toward him, so Howell's prior experience will be helpful.

"The dedication of reps to a developing player like J.J. is not necessarily going to lend itself to a ton of reps elsewhere," said Adofo-Mensah. "Those are [some of my most fun] conversations [with O'Connell] because there's no right or wrong answer. We're just malleable and open-minded in the way we talk about it. Sam was just somebody that really fit a lot of those needs."