Seahawks Trade Sam Howell to Vikings, Draft Notre Dame DL Rylie Mills With 142nd Pick
Bolstering depth along the defensive line with a versatile chess piece, the Seahawks took a flier on Notre Dame defensive end Rylie Mills with the 142nd pick. Credit: Rylie Mills/Instagram
Amid a flurry of deals coming late in the fourth round, the Seattle Seahawks shipped veteran quarterback Sam Howell to the Minnesota Vikings as part of a pick swap, acquiring the 142nd selection in exchange for the 172nd selection and using that pick on versatile Notre Dame defensive end Rylie Mills.
Moments later, the Seahawks traded pick No. 144, which they had acquired in a trade down from the Patriots along with pick No. 238 just 15 minutes earlier, to the Browns for picks 166 and 192, giving them six remaining selections for the final three rounds, including three seventh-round picks. Cleveland selected Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders after the trade up, ending the Heisman finalist’s free fall early in the fifth round.
After Seattle drafted Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in the third round on Friday and re-signing Drew Lock earlier this month, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Howell, who wound up spending one season with the franchise. Coming over in a March 2024 trade with Washington, he struggled in training camp learning a new offense and completed under 40 percent of his passes in his lone game action in a loss to Green Bay.
Quickly on the clock after sending Howell to the Vikings, the Seahawks rolled the dice on Mills, a talented defensive lineman who has extensive experience playing defensive tackle as well as defensive end. A multi-year starter for the Fighting Irish, he saw a significant uptick in pass rushing production as a senior, racking up 7.5 sacks and 34 pressures while logging most of his playing time as a 3-tech defensive tackle.
Unfortunately, Mills suffered a torn ACL during a College Football Playoff win against Indiana and missed the final two games, preventing him from partaking in the NFL combine or pro day workouts. While he’s only three months removed from the injury, however, the player confirmed to reporters following his selection that he’s “ahead of schedule” rehabbing from surgery and believes he has a good chance to be back on the field for football activities before the start of training camp.
With multiple seasons of experience playing both tackle and end in a similar defensive scheme in South Bend under his belt, once healthy, Mills should have a great opportunity to carve out a rotational role behind star Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed, offering the positional flexibility to slide to base end in even fronts and rush from the interior on passing downs. Compared to previous players who have excelled in coach Mike Macdonald’s defense, he could take on a similar role to what Brent Urban has done in Baltimore, contributing in multiple alignments as a run defender and pass rusher.
The Seahawks will be back on the clock with the 166th pick in the fifth round and now have a sixth round pick at 192, providing flexibility for general manager John Schneider to continue wheeling and dealing to work up and down the board or even potentially acquire picks for 2026.
