After failing to find a quarterback in the NFL draft, the Packers are turning to a veteran to back up Jordan Love.
The NFL draft often sees the Green Bay Packers select a quarterback as one of the better franchises at building up the future at that role. This year’s draft saw them decline to select a signal caller, leading the Packers to find a quarterback in the veteran market. They ultimately landed on 15-year vet Tyrod Taylor as their new backup for Jordan Love, solving the void Malik Willis left while releasing Desmond Ridder in the process.
Willis backed up Love for the past two seasons before signing with the Miami Dolphins in free agency. Rather than roll with the room they had, Green Bay vacated space for Taylor, expected to be the favorite at QB2 as Love enters his fourth year as the starter. He will compete with Kyle McCord who remains on the roster. After Willis left the building, general manager Brian Gutekunst emphasized the importance at that role as Love has missed time in both of those seasons. They hope that Taylor fits that bill.
The 36-year-old has played in 100 NFL games and has started 62 while spending fifteen seasons in the league on seven different teams. The bulk of that came from his time with the Buffalo Bills, where he made 43 starts from 2015 to 2017, but most recently was with the New York Jets, where he battled injuries and only made three starts before another injury took him out of the running. There’s certainly a durability risk with Taylor, but the Packers are banking on him not needing to spend too much time out there.
To read more about the addition of Love to Green Bay’s quarterback room, here is the full story from Packers Roundtable writer Ashish Mathur.
Taylor has a career 29-31-1 record as starter and has been countlessly praised by teammates for his professionalism over the years. Green Bay is banking on his experience in a critical role for the team, but have to hope whether he can stay healthy enough to deliver on that.