A Green Bay Packers legend urges the team to pursue former Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields. They'd be betting on a reclamation project with high upside to be Jordan Love's next backup.
The Green Bay Packers need a new backup quarterback. Malik Willis is going to be gone in free agency as some other franchise decides to give him a ton of money with the hope that he can live up to the potential that he displayed as Jordan Love's backup.
Meanwhile, behind Love, the Packers are looking at a quarterback room that features former Atlanta Falcons castoff Desmond Ridder and former Philadelphia Eagles sixth-round rookie Kyle McCord.
Both quarterbacks certainly fit the "developmental backup" role that the Packers like. Neither seems to have much high-end potential, though.
That must be why former Packer offensive lineman turned radio host Mark Tauscher is calling for Green Bay to go out in free agency and make an aggressive move on a new backup quarterback.
If the Packers are looking for a reclamation project with high upside, he believes they must go after Justin Fields, the former No. 11 overall pick of the Chicago Bears.
"There is a quarterback [Fields] who is as down on his luck and as beaten into the turf more than any quarterback in the league -- probably as much as Malik Willis [was]. And you don't even have to give up a seventh for this young man," Tauscher recently explained.
Fields is undoubtedly an elite athlete, but that never really translated to quarterback play at the NFL level.
The Bears tried to get it out of him, but he may have been doomed from the start. His first head coach was Matt Nagy, who was fired for not being able to develop Fields as a rookie.
His next head coach was Matt Eberflus, who was an outright disaster as head coach for Chicago.
Fields wasn't blameless, though.
"He's a one-read guy right now. That's why he got in trouble with Chicago and why he got in trouble everywhere else he's been," Tauscher said.
The funny thing is that by all accounts, Willis was a "one-read guy" when he was with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans gave him away to the Packers for a seventh-round pick. In two seasons under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, Willis developed into a player who could very well be a legitimate starting quarterback in the NFL.
Fields is only 26 years old, so why couldn't the Packers help him find the same type of career turnaround?
Justin Fields could be the next Malik Willis for Green Bay Packers
Nov 13, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields (7) looks to pass the ball against the New England Patriots in the third quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images.The Bears traded him to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2024 for a fifth-round pick, and after one season splitting time with Russell Wilson in Pittsburgh, the New York Jets picked him up as a free agent ahead of last season.
He signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Jets ahead of the 2025 season. And yes, he does have one year left on that deal, but Jets insider Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic recently reported that New York will cut Fields.
That means he could be available to the Packers for cheap as a free agent. If that becomes the case, Tauscher wants general manager Brian Gutekunst to go get the former Chicago first-round pick.
“I want the Green Bay Packers to aggressively go and get Justin Fields to be their backup quarterback," Tauscher said.
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