Commanders' Sam Howell Benched; What's Next?

After losing the starting job to Jacoby Brissett is Sam Howell's time quarterbacking the Washington Commanders over for good?

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Commanders made the move we expected them to on Wednesday and named quarterback Jacoby Brissett the starter in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers.

While many believe it to be a move that will encompass Week 18 when the Commanders host the Dallas Cowboys as well, many are wondering if Sam Howell has taken his last snap as a starter for this franchise.

But we have to remember the amount of ego that comes into play in the NFL sometimes and the fact that multiple teams had their eyes on Howell as a mid-round pick last season when he came out of North Carolina.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell (14) throws the ball against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half at SoFi Stadium / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Furthermore, some of the talent evaluators who had him as a first-round pick in 2021 will have that nagging pull in the back of their minds asking if they were right and this team just didn't harness his talents appropriately.

If one of those talent evaluators and/or coaches gets installed here, then Howell's days taking snaps for Washington may not be over with just yet.

The truth of the matter is there are several ways this thing can go in the offseason as Washington takes its next steps toward building a winner.

First and foremost the expectation is 'Black Monday' - the day after all NFL teams play their final regular season games of the year - will be the darkest this franchise has seen in quite some time.

Starting with coach Ron Rivera and trickling down to the bottom of the coaching staff it's possible that not a single face returns in 2024. On the evaluation side of things, the last four first-round picks have been seldom heard from this year and one is playing for the opposing team this weekend.

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All of that change means new faces, new strategies, and potentially the desire to go a new direction at quarterback and other places in the roster. That impacts not just Howell, but everybody currently holding a roster spot next season.

While we may have a focused opinion on what should happen and maybe brash enough to even think our opinion will manifest into reality, there's no telling where the path will lead in the future.

Not for Howell, or Brissett, and surely not for the Commanders.