One of the most important — and underrated — positions in the NFL is backup quarterback. After losing starter Jordan Love to an MCL sprain, the Green Bay Packers are going to have to turn to their current backup, Malik Willis.
Green Bay traded for Willis at the conclusion of training camp, and the Packers are currently riding with Willis and practice squad member Sean Clifford as the team’s QBs with Love recovering. Willis has three starts over his three seasons in the NFL, going 1-2 in those games.
If Willis doesn’t perform well enough to win, however, Clifford isn’t going to be a likely option for a Packers team who began the regular season with designs on the playoffs.
Tyler Brooke of The 33rd Team listed three realistic options for Green Bay, and one might make fans of the Chicago Bears snicker: free agent P.J. Walker.
Ex-Bears QB P.J. Walker Could Be ‘Stopgap’ for Green Bay Packers
The Bears signed Walker, 29, to a two-year contract worth $4.15 million in March of 2023 with over $2 million guaranteed. The aim was to have Walker serve as a backup for ex QB Justin Fields, but Walker was beat out for the backup job by Tyson Bagent.
The Bears cut ties with Walker after that, and he wound up spending much of his 2023 campaign with the Cleveland Browns. Walker also spent the 2024 off-season with the Seattle Seahawks, but they released him on August 27.
“If the Packers want a more seasoned veteran with starting experience, PJ Walker is one of the more interesting free-agent quarterbacks on the market,” Brooke wrote, adding:
“The box score numbers aren’t pretty for Walker. He has a career NFL passer rating of 60.0 with six touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Some of that is due to the lack of talent around him, but he’s also been careless with the ball at times. Still, given how few former starters are available on the free agent market, Walker could at least be a stopgap QB option that will try to make plays and win the Packers a game or two.”
Green Bay has not placed Love on injured reserve, so he likely won’t miss too much time. “The Packers hope it is a three-to-four-week injury,” ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reported on September 7. “Typically, MCL injuries do not require surgery.”
Bears Still Have Tyson Bagent as QB2
I asked Dante Pettis about this throw from Tyson Bagent.
Pettis: “A dot. I knew it when I saw it. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is perfect.’ He couldn’t have walked out there and handed it to me any better.”
🎥: @NFL
The Bears have a solid backup themselves in Bagent, who handily beat out vet Brett Rypien for the job this past preseason.
Now in his second year with the team, Bagent went 2-2 in his starting opportunities with the Bears last season, and he looked sharp as a dagger over the 2024 preseason, going 17-25 for 207 yards and 2 TDs.
While rookie starter Caleb Williams struggled in his Week 1 debut against the Tennessee Titans, the Bears have a pretty solid QB duo in he and Bagent. Bad games are bound to happen with rookie signal-callers at the helm. But if Chicago were to face a worst-case scenario and lose Williams to injury, it’s fair to suggest the Bears would be far more secure with Bagent leading the way than the Packers are will Willis.
