Packers Trade For Quarterback Malik Willis

One day before having to cut their roster to 53 players, the Green Bay Packers on Monday acquired quarterback Malik Willis from the Titans.

New Packers QB Malik Willis / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers, unsatisfied with the development of young quarterbacks Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt during training camp, acquired Malik Willis from the Tennessee Titans on Monday.

NFL Network was the first to report the trade, with the Packers sending a seventh-round pick in next year's draft to the Titans.

The trade was agreed to on the eve of the 53-man roster cut on Tuesday. The Packers won’t have to make it official until after they’ve reduced the roster to the NFL limit by the 3 p.m. deadline.

The expectation, according to sources, is the Packers will at least release Clifford. Pratt’s fate is less certain. Even if they release both, they probably will bring one back on the practice squad.

Given the short turnaround to the Week 1 game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil in 11 days, Pratt or Clifford might wind up being Jordan Love’s backup.

Willis was a third-round pick by the Titans in 2022. He started three games as a rookie, completing 50.8 percent of his passes with zero touchdowns, three interceptions and a 42.8 passer rating. He went 4-of-5 passing for 74 yards last season.

Two league sources were dubious of the move. Both said Willis is a good athlete with a big arm. Both also said he has “processing” issues – which could come into play as he has to learn Green Bay’s playbook in a hurry – and is inaccurate, despite solid numbers this preseason.

Still, one source said he’d still rather have Willis as the backup to Love.

Willis was sharp in three preseason games this year, completing 20-of-27 passes (74.1 percent) for 205 yards with two touchdowns, one interception and a 104.7 passer rating. He also carried the ball 11 times for 101 yards, with runs of 10-plus yards in every game.

“It’s out of my hands,” Willis said at the conclusion of the preseason. “I mean, more than anything, control what I can control as far as that goes. And just put good things on tape.” 

While he played well, he was beaten out by Will Levis and veteran Mason Rudolph.

“That decision (to keep two or three quarterbacks on the active roster) isn’t necessarily related to their play is the point to make,” Titans coach Brian Callahan said. “Whatever we decide to do there, it’s probably based on whatever else we need to do on the roster, not necessarily just their play.”

This preseason, 53 quarterbacks dropped back to pass at least 30 times. Willis ranked second in completion percentage, sixth in yards per attempt and eighth in passer rating.

Meanwhile, Clifford was 47th in completion percentage (51.2), 48th in yards per attempt (4.8) and 45th in passer rating (62.8), and Pratt was 19th in completion percentage (65.7), 43rd in yards per attempt (5.1) and 32nd in passer rating (75.7).

After the game on Saturday, coach Matt LaFleur hinted the team would be looking for outside options.

“I think it’s similar to the kicking competition in terms of there were some really good moments and then there were some things we absolutely have to do better,” LaFleur said. “We’ll evaluate everything that’s out there for us.”

Clifford was the No. 2 quarterback as a fifth-round rookie last year. Did he think he had done enough to keep the job?

“It’s not my decision to have,” he replied. “I think the world of Mike (Pratt). I think that he’s a great player. I think that I’m also a great player, so it’s not my decision to have here. I think they should keep all of us.”

In a 30-7 victory over the Ravens on Saturday, Pratt started out hot and threw a big-time touchdown pass to Bo Melton. He also threw a bad interception.

“There’s a lot of tough decisions that are going to have to be made,” Pratt said. “There’s some really good football players in this room (and) whatever’s best for this team and whatever is going to have the impact to win the most games here is what’s most important.”

After throwing one touchdown pass but fumbling a shotgun snap against the Ravens, Clifford had already turned the page to Week 1.

“Get ready for the Eagles, start watching some tape on Philly,” he said. “Obviously with camp, it’s just been very install-centric, so (we’ve) just not been able to get the reps to look at the ‘Birds’ yet, so (we’ll) just start to break down some tape there, get ahead of it, maybe even watch some Indy (Colts film) as well, just so that way it makes Week 1 that much easier.”

The Packers will visit the Titans in Week 3.

At Liberty University, Willis won the Bobby Bowden Trophy, which recognizes the college football player who epitomizes a student-athlete of faith.

“Football only lasts so long, and none of us are perfect, so you have to strive to be better and do something good,” Willis said during the awards presentation. “We are all works in progress. When you have a grateful heart, it makes (life) easier.”

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I'm going to admit this right now: I've never had a harder time picking the #Packers' 53-man roster.

But, here it is. Feel free to mock it tomorrow. Or now, for that matter.⬇️https://t.co/h9OCcqmWWy

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) August 26, 2024

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