The Green Bay Packers have re-signed veteran quarterback Doug Pederson, Brett Favre's primary backup for the past two years and a Packer for six seasons, GM/Head Coach Mike Sherman announced Tuesday.
Pederson, a 35-year-old veteran of 10 playing seasons, had become an unrestricted free agent February 28.
The 6-3, 220-pound Northeast Louisiana alumnus, who has worn Green Bay's green and gold for five of the past seven years (he spent 1999 with Philadelphia and 2000 with Cleveland), punctuated his 2002 season with the most productive appearance of his Green Bay tenure.
Taking over at quarterback, he played most of the second half against Washington (Oct. 20) after Favre was sidelined by a sprained knee early in the third quarter and completed 9 of 15 passes for 78 yards and no interceptions, leading three scoring drives for 13 additional points to convert the Packers 17-6 halftime lead into a 30-9 victory.
Two weeks later, with the game apparently in hand against Miami (Nov. 4), Pederson also relieved Favre in the fourth quarter of a 24-10 win over the Dolphins. He subsequently played the final period in a 40-14 victory over Detroit Nov. 10 and, with the Packers trailing by 25 points against the New York Jets in the regular season finale (Dec. 29), threw for his lone touchdown of the season – a 29-yarder to tight end Bubba Franks down the middle of the field – while completing 6 of 8 passes for 43 yards, without an interception.
One of the NFL's most skilled holders, he also held for all of the team's field goal and extra point attempts while appearing in all 16 games.
Overall he has played in 46 games for Green Bay, completing 33 of 52 passes for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns, without an interception.
Statistically, Pederson had the most productive year of his career in 1999 when, with the Philadelphia Eagles, he completed 119 of 227 passes for 1,276 yards and 7 touchdowns, with 9 interceptions.
