GREEN BAY – Brian Gutekunst did his research.
As the 2024 season neared, the Packers' general manager and his scouting department combed through film from across the NFL in search of a potential backup to quarterback Jordan Love.
The search brought them to Tennessee, with Gutekunst and Co. locking onto former third-round pick Malik Willis, who seemed cemented as the third-string QB on the Titans' depth chart.
The Packers made a call, shipped a seventh-round pick to Nashville and cautiously hoped for the best.
"This will be new for him and obviously the quarterback position, it'll take a little bit of time," said Gutekunst after the trade last August. "At the same time, just really excited about where his progression has taken him this far and where he'll go particularly under our group."
The move, small in scale at the time, turned out substantial after Love injured his knee on the final drive of the Packers' regular-season opener in Brazil and missed the next two games.
Despite only being in Green Bay a couple of weeks, Willis aptly performed in Love's absence. He not only propelled the Packers to a 16-10 win over Indianapolis in their home opener but also led a 30-14 rout of his former team at Nissan Stadium.
In the victories, Willis completed 25 of 33 passes for 324 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran 12 times for 114 yards and a TD.
When Love suffered a groin injury against Jacksonville in Week 8, Willis came off the bench and completed four passes for 56 yards and a touchdown to buoy a 30-27 win over the Jaguars.
"He was a welcome addition," said Gutekunst at last week's NFL Scouting Combine. "I don't think when you bring a player in right at the cutdown day … you expect him to start in a couple weeks and do what he did. Just really appreciative of his professionalism and how prepared he was."
In exchange for what turned out to be a late seventh-round pick, Wills became only the fifth QB since the merger with a 120-plus passer rating in both of his first two starts with a team, joining Brad Johnson (1999 with Washington), Jeff George (1994 with Atlanta), Jim Plunkett (1980 with the Oakland Raiders) and John Hadl (1973 with the Los Angeles Rams).
That wasn't the only superlative. Willis also became the first QB in Packers history to post a 100-plus rating in each of his first three games with the team in which he attempted 10-plus passes.
Among QBs with 50-plus passing attempts in a season, Willis' passer rating of 124.8 is the top single-season mark in NFL history. He also ranks No. 1 in the league in yards per pass attempt (10.19) among QBs with 50-plus attempts, the top single-season mark by an NFL quarterback since Gus Frerotte averaged 10.62 yards with the Minnesota Vikings in 2003.
"There's times I fall short, and I get nervous, or I get doubtful," said Willis, days after the win in Jacksonville. "At the same time, I just lean on (my faith) in the good times and the bad times. I feel like just building on that, you continue to just get more and more confident in it and just lean on it."
Acquiring Willis not only provided Green Bay with a QB2 for 2024 but also an option for 2025.
With Willis entering the fourth and final year of his rookie deal, his strong play raised questions about whether the Packers might entertain a trade for the 6-foot-1, 225-pound quarterback or keep him in the fold for next season.
Gutekunst reiterated in Indianapolis that he doesn't "talk about that stuff," but commended Willis, Head Coach Matt LaFleur and his coaches for getting the 25-year-old quarterback quickly up to speed.
"Those guys were able to flip a switch and put us in the best position to win football games with Malik as our starter," Gutekunst said. "Very appreciative of the pro way he attacked things and really fit into our football team well."
The Packers currently carry three quarterbacks on their offseason roster, including 2023 fifth-round pick Sean Clifford. It's been five years since Green Bay last carried three QBs on its Week 1 roster, but Gutekunst remains open to the idea.
Last April, the Packers used the first of their two seventh-round picks on former Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt. Both Clifford and Pratt were cut at the end of camp in favor of Willis. Clifford returned on Green Bay's practice squad and Pratt joined Tampa Bay's.
"We really liked Sean last year, and then obviously we took one (in the draft), Michael, last year," Gutekunst said. "We haven't carried three in a while on the 53 but I wouldn't be opposed to doing that if we had the right guys there."
