The Green Bay Packers relied heavily on Malik Willis over the course of this season, but that luxury probably won’t be there for them in 2026.
Willis has played well enough to earn himself at least a chance to start, and given the current shortage of bonafide QB1s around the league, some team is probably going to pay him a significant amount of money on the chance that he can become one.
It is hard to give head coach Matt LaFleur too much credit for Aaron Rodgers‘ late-career resurgence (two MVPs together), but LaFleur was central to the drafting and development of Jordan Love who finished the year as Pro Football Focus’s fifth-best quarterback in the NFL.
LaFleur also landed on Willis, a former third-round pick, as a backup for Love. Green Bay surrendered just a seventh-rounder to the Tennessee Titans in that transaction.
History indicates that if LaFleur remains the Packers’ head coach, he has a good chance of identifying another talented, but undervalued, signal-caller who can be acquired at a reasonable cost. Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report suggested a couple of options as replacements for Willis on January 10.
“If Willis departs, the Packers will probably be in the market for a veteran backup,” Knox wrote. “Fifth-round pick Clayton Tune is the No. 3 QB behind Jordan Love and Willis, and he’s only on a one-year deal.”
“Expect quarterbacks like Trey Lance and Gardner Minshew to interest the Packers as Love’s next understudy,” Knox continued.
Injury Derailed Trey Lance Early in NFL Career
GettyLos Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance.
The San Francisco 49ers selected Lance, 25 years old, with the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 draft. He appeared in six games, starting two of them, during his rookie campaign, and the Niners planned to make him the full-time starter the following season.
But Lance suffered a broken ankle in Week 2 of his second professional season. Eventually Jimmy Garoppolo went down as well, and former seventh-round pick Brock Purdy got his first shot to start. Purdy proved an unlikely find and never surrendered the role of QB1 back to Lance.
San Francisco eventually traded Lance to the Dallas Cowboys in August 2023 for a fourth-round pick. He played out his $34.1 million rookie contract in Dallas before inking a one-year deal worth $2 million to serve as the backup QB with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025, playing behind Justin Herbert.
L.A.’s season ended last Sunday night with a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the New England Patriots, which means Lance will become an unrestricted free agent in March.
Trey Lance May Have Untapped Talent NFL Still Hasn’t Seen
GettyLos Angeles Chargers quarterback Trey Lance.
Lance has played in just 16 games, including six starts (2-4) across his five-year career. He has thrown for 1,289 yards, 5 TDs and 5 INTs on a 54 percent completion rate. He has also rushed for 361 yards and one score.
But despite Lance’s limited experience, his dual-threat ability renders him a somewhat similar type of threat from the QB position as Willis has proven to be. Lance is also still young and has very limited tread on his tires in NFL terms.
Those facts, coupled with a salary that will likely come in around the same range as the $2 million he made in Los Angeles in 2025, should be enough to entice the Packers if LaFleur sees untapped talent on Lance’s tape.
