Of all the pending free agents whom the Green Bay Packers would love to bring back, backup quarterback Malik Willis tops the list. Unfortunately for the Packers, he will likely be off to a bigger opportunity.
Willis has emerged as one of, if not the best, backup quarterbacks in the NFL. In two years in Green Bay, Willis has started three games, played significant stretches in a few others, and thrown six touchdowns with zero interceptions. He has a completion percentage of 78.7% across 11 games played and, just for good measure, has chipped in 261 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.
He shone so brightly in head coach Matt LaFleur’s system that there were times in 2024 and this past season where LaFleur was asked in press conferences if Willis could be the starting quarterback moving forward.
It sounds insane, given how good Jordan Love has looked, but it shows how well Willis has played when his number has been called. LaFleur did a good job as recently as this December, after Willis balled out in a start against the Baltimore Ravens, of shutting down the idea of a QB changeup.
I want to pump the brakes on all that stuff. I think Jordan Love is playing some pretty high-level football, and it’s great that we feel the same about Malik in his ability to go in there. I thought he’s had two really back-to-back outstanding performances.
So we’re in a good spot with that position, certainly have a lot of confidence in both of those guys, but it’s clear that Jordan is our franchise quarterback, and when he is healthy, he’s going to be our starter. So, just want to squash all that.
For Green Bay, it was an incredible “problem” to have. There are plenty of teams scrambling to find one quality starting quarterback. The Packers had two. Of course, there are questions about how Willis might look playing in another system with less talent around him. But he’s earned the opportunity to find out.
Bringing back Willis would take convincing of epic proportions by the Packers for a guy who has clearly outplayed the backup quarterback label. It would also require Willis to take significantly less money than he would earn elsewhere as a starting quarterback. If the Packers were to bring back Willis on a reasonable deal, it’d be a home run for Green Bay. Still, would we not feel a little bad that his talent would be wasted as a backup quarterback?
Even if they could reach some kind of compromise, the cap-strapped Packers would have to allocate a large amount of their available resources to keep Willis as the backup, which would mean at least another key free agent or two would have to go.
That’s a steep price to pay for an insurance policy in case Love gets hurt, which doesn’t make a ton of sense for a team trying to win a Super Bowl right now. As good as Willis looked, it’s fair to ask if the Packers would really be a viable championship threat if Love were to go down for the season anyway. In almost every single case, a team that loses its starting quarterback for the year has a minuscule chance to win it all. (That said, Nick Foles might have thoughts on the matter.)
Pro Football Focus has projected Willis’ next contract to be two years and $40 million, with $30 million in guarantees. What the Packers can offer would be peanuts in comparison. Factor in that the quarterback free-agent market consists of Willis, Daniel Jones coming off a torn Achilles, and whatever Aaron Rodgers decides to do, and there will be plenty of teams banging down the door to talk to Willis. The draft class of quarterbacks this go around isn’t as highly touted as the ones in years past, either. Willis is hitting the market at the perfect time.
Bringing back Willis would give the Packers a ton of comfort at the backup quarterback spot. It would give them someone who can play at a starter’s level if called upon. There’s a reason vanishingly few teams have such a luxury, at least for long.
Whether to retain Willis will be a fairly easy choice for Green Bay, mostly because it will probably be made for them. It’s also a reminder of what an exceptional gathering of talent they had on the 2025 roster before injuries decimated it, and just how hard it is to keep such a group together for long.
