The Green Bay Packers are 0-1 following their Week One loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Due to the numerous mistakes that his team made throughout the night (a missed field goal, penalties, blown coverages, taking the ball out of the end zone at ill-advised times), Packers head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters, “I’m not trying to take anything away from Philly, they battled and they played their game, but there was a lot of opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on, and when you don’t do that, you get beat.”
Far worse than losing the game, perhaps, is the possibility that Green Bay may have lost their starting quarterback, Jordan Love, for a few weeks. Love exited the game with seconds left to play with a knee injury. While he avoided major injury, he has been diagnosed with a sprained MCL and could miss a few weeks.
The Green Bay Packers Have Malik Willis as Jordan Love’s Backup Quarterback
The Packers entered training camp with Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt competing to be Love’s backup quarterback in 2024. However, neither played very well in preseason games, nor did either of them show much improvement during practices.
As a result, Green Bay made the decision to cut both of them and trade for Malik Willis, formerly of the Tennessee Titans. Clifford was re-signed to the Packers’ practice squad while Pratt was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There is not much optimism among Packers fans regarding the prospect of playing the next few games with Willis at quarterback. In three starts with the Titans in 2022, he completed just 50.8% of his passes for 267 yards, and three interceptions. Tennessee lost all three of those games.
That being said, LaFleur and the Packers have not yet ruled Love out for the home opener against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Still, it is highly doubtful that the highest-paid player in franchise history will be able to play.
With so many questions surrounding Love’s health and Willis’ ability, one NFL analyst thinks the Packers should trade for a former top-three draft pick.
NFL Analyst Encourages the Green Bay Packers to Trade for Zach Wilson
For their part, the Packers have not reached out to any free agent veteran quarterbacks to fill in for Love should he miss any time. Despite their commitment to rolling with Willis if Love cannot play, NFL analysts are still suggesting various trades or signings they think Green Bay should make.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report suggests that the team trade for former third-overall draft pick Zach Wilson, who currently is the backup quarterback for the Denver Broncos:
“The Packers won’t have Love for the immediate future and might need a new quarterback to navigate the next few weeks. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Packers ‘have not reached out and are not expected’ to pursue a veteran signal-caller at this time. That stance could change, however, depending on how backup Malik Willis fares in Week 2.”
It would be rather ironic if Wilson, who washed out as Aaron Rodgers’ backup with the New York Jets, would become Love’s backup in Green Bay. That being said, Love is not expected to be out for very long.
It is hard to see the Packers’ front office parting with even more draft capital for another backup quarterback (they already gave up a 2025 seventh round pick for Willis).
Hopefully Love can return to the field soon and the trade speculation outside of the building can be put to bed.
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