With Malik Willis commanding a massive payday elsewhere, the Green Bay Packers pivot to stability. Veteran Tyrod Taylor arrives to provide a seasoned, professional safety net behind Jordan Love.
There was something great about Malik Willis as the QB2 for the Green Bay Packers.
Jordan Love is clearly "the guy" in Green Bay and Willis, at no point, ever challenged the former first-round draft pick.
Willis was excited whenever he entered the field of play for the Packers, though.
He had incredible upside and elite athleticism. You never wanted to see Love go down with an injury, but he did a few times. That provided Willis a chance to prove that the Tennessee Titans gave up on him way too early. That, or Green Bay's ability to develop the quarterback, is unmatched.
Either way, Willis took advantage of his opportunities, and he parlayed them into a three-year, $67.5 million deal with the Miami Dolphins.
He gave the Packers a "curveball" to throw offensively, and he even won a few games in tandem with head coach Matt LaFleur's ability to use his athleticism to Green Bay's advantage.
It was a success story for both Willis and the Packers, but both parties had to move on.
That's the downside of having a high-upside backup quarterback.
The Packers now have a different type of backup quarterback on their roster, though. Gone is the high-upside flyer, and instead, Green Bay has opted to bring in a trusted veteran who is undoubtedly at the tail end of his career.
That would be Tyrod Taylor, the likely new QB2 in town. The Packers signed him on Monday.
Taylor brings none of that high upside to the field that Willis did for the Packers. Case in point: Willis is 26 years old and the former No. 86 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Taylor is 36, and he went No. 180 in 2011 to the Baltimore Ravens.
That was the draft after Aaron Rodgers and the Packers had just won Super Bowl XLV.
That's an eternity ago.
To be fair, Taylor has made a great career for himself in the NFL. He's never been a superstar, but he's been steady over 15 seasons. He's played in 100 games and has 62 starts under his belt. He picked up 43 of those starts from 2015 to 2017 as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills.
He's bounced around the league and he's dealt with injuries. He's seen the highs and lows of the NFL, but he's known as a professional through and through.
Taylor is not the guy you bring in to lead a Super Bowl push, but he's perfect as "the guy behind the guy".
The Packers have "the guy".
They trust Love as their franchise quarterback.
With that said, he's missed some games over the past two seasons due to injury, and without Willis, general manager Brian Gutekunst was starting at a backup situation featuring Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord.
Neither Ridder nor McCord inspire confidence if they're asked to come in and help out in a pinch.
Taylor inspires a ton of confidence, though. He's been there and done that, and that's exactly the type of backup quarterback the Packers need heading into the 2026 season.
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