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Malik Willis is the most interesting free agent of the 2026 offseason. The talented quarterback played like JaMarcus Russell in his brief time with the Titans and transformed into Lamar Jackson in limited action with the Packers over the past two seasons. Now he’s set to become a free agent in an offseason lacking attractive options via free agency, trade and the draft. 

It’s a recipe that could create high demand and a big payday for the quarterback with just six career starts under his belt. He could be more enticing than some draft prospects because he’s at least had a few good showings in the NFL. His upside also makes him more desirable than some other quarterbacks on the open market. Consider him a lottery ticket of sorts.

Most interesting player in free agency?

The Titans drafted Willis in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, out of Liberty, when quarterbacks fell down the draft boards in unprecedented fashion. It was a big surprise considering many expected Willis to be a first-round pick. Many national draft experts had Willis going No. 20 to the Steelers in their final 2022 mock drafts. Our Ryan Wilson mocked Willis as high as eighth overall to the Falcons in his final version. It wasn’t all that different from the Shedeur Sanders freefall in 2025, minus all the publicity, of course.

Willis drew comparisons to Josh Allen, noting that both were considered dual-threat passers from small schools with rocket arms. The scouting report included rave reviews of a strong arm, electric open-field rushing and the ability to break tackles. Concerns included his accuracy, ability to process and bailing from the pocket too early. 

Those red flags were validated in his time with the Titans. He backed up Ryan Tannehill as a rookie in 2022, but did make a cameo with three starts where Tennessee ran the ball at an astronomical rate with Derrick Henry in the backfield. Willis became the first rookie quarterback since Doug Williams in 1978 with under 100 pass yards in each of his first three career starts. He didn’t make any starts in 2023 while backing up Tannehill and Will Levis.

Willis was traded to the Packers for a seventh-round pick in August of 2024, underscoring how far his value had fallen in two years with Tennessee. He was thrust into action early that season after Jordan Love was injured in the season opener in Brazil. Willis was nothing short of brilliant, leading the Packers to back-to-back wins despite getting less than a month to familiarize himself with Matt LaFleur’s system. He also made a start late last season after Love suffered a concussion. He flashed more of his dual-threat upside vs. the Bears and Ravens that will have some teams foaming at the mouth come March. 

Malik Willis career as starter

Titans Packers

W-L

0-3

2-1

Comp pct

51%

80%

Pass YPG

78.0

204.0

TD-INT

0-3

3-0

Passer rating

39.0

132.4

The numbers with Green Bay, albeit in a small sample size, point to why he is such a fascinating player to watch this offseason:

  • The projected 17-game pace based on his three starts with Green Bay is astounding: 3,473 pass yards, 986 rush yards, 34 total touchdowns and five turnovers. 
  • He led all NFL players in yards per attempt (11.3) and yards per rush (8.3) in starts over the past two seasons (minimum 20 attempts for each stat)
  • He led all quarterbacks in EPA per dropback (0.41) in the past two seasons (minimum 100 dropbacks)
  • In Week 17 vs. Baltimore, he became the first quarterback since Michael Vick in 2002 with 100 pass yards, a pass TD, a rush TD and zero incompletions in a first half.

He ended up completing 79% of the 89 passes he made in a Green Bay uniform. I know it’s just 89 attempts, but that matches the best completion rate in any span of 89 throws in the entire storied career of Aaron Rodgers. You have to be doing something right to match the best of any stat in Rodgers career.

Packers system brought out the best in Willis

So how on earth did he pull off this Jekyll-and-Hyde act? His supporting cast and coaching was night and day between the Titans and Packers. Tennessee had one of the worst offensive lines at the time. It also had a fledgling receiving corps after trading A.J. Brown during the 2022 NFL Draft, just before Willis’ rookie season. His offensive play caller in Tennessee was Todd Downing, who has since become the Jets passing game coordinator and Patriots WR coach. By contrast, Willis played with an elite offensive line and play caller (LaFleur) in Green Bay.

The offensive system, supporting cast and organization make a world of difference for young quarterbacks, which is why we are seeing so many failing early in their careers only to rebound in a better environment. Who’s to say Willis can’t follow a similar blueprint? 

LaFleur changed his game plan several times during Willis’ three starts in the green and yellow. The adjustments were so drastic that the Packers used motion, option plays and shotgun at what amounted to the highest rates in the league over Willis’ spot starts. 

Packers tendencies by starting QB in last two seasons

Jordan Love Malik Willis

Shotgun pct

68%

85%

Motion pct

65%

75%

Rush pct

48%

63%

Option run pct

7%

27%

LaFleur kept things simple. He called run plays over 60% of the time in Willis’ starts, while designing a lot of easy completions, option plays to feature Willis’ legs and deep throws to feature his arm strength. 

Credit Willis: he had plenty of accuracy with his missiles, too. He was 13-of-16 for 456 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating on throws traveling 20+ yards downfield in the past two seasons. He was 6-of-7 on those deep throws in Week 17 vs. the Ravens last season. 

You can see why the Packers ran a lot more zone read options with Willis in the game, too.

Willis’ “spray chart” of throws was similar to what you would consider a “good” shot in basketball today. There were a lot of layups and logo shots. A majority of his throws were to the flat, quick screens and outs, plus deep shots down the sidelines. 

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Location of Malik Willis completions with Packers
TruMedia Sports

LaFleur was able to highlight Willis’ strengths over these three starts while protecting him with a heavy dose of the run game, but how would his skillset play out over a 17-game season when defenses throw the kitchen sink at him?

We saw plenty of his arm strength in Green Bay, but not a ton of reading coverages and making throws with touch into the teeth of the defense. He ranked among the league leaders in percent of attempts behind the line of scrimmage and on deep balls, but was near the bottom on all other throws.

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Malik Willis pct of attempts by pass distance

An NFL-low 30% of his attempts were over the middle in the past two seasons. Only 20% of his passes were over the middle and between 0-20 air yards. And only 4% of his throws were over the middle and between 11 and 20 air yards.

So while he flashed incredible upside, he wasn’t exactly playing HORSE out there. Processing skills could remain a concern as well. He was sacked on 24% of his pressures with the Packers, well above the NFL average of 18%. By contrast, Jordan Love, who is one of the better passers at avoiding sacks, was at 10%.

Potential landing spots

It all means Willis should have a few eager suitors next month but he should be prioritizing a quality organization with good coaching and talent around him. Here’s my top four landing spots:

1. Cardinals

Arizona would make the most sense if they are able to find a trade partner for Kyler Murray. New head coach Mike LaFleur is the brother of Matt LaFleur and both came from the Sean McVay coaching tree. Cardinals’ new offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett spent three years under Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. The system makes sense and he could develop a connection with Marvin Harrison Jr.

2. Dolphins

The Dolphins make a lot of sense as former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley is now the head coach in Miami where they seem primed to add Tua Tagovailoa to the list of offseason casualties. The supporting cast won’t be ideal though with the lack of talent on Miami’s roster.

3. Colts

The Colts would be a great landing spot but it’s not the most realistic. They signaled they were all-in on Daniel Jones by trading two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner last year. Now, Jones is a free agent coming off a torn Achilles. Those plans probably haven’t changed, but if they did, then Willis could be a perfect fit in Indy as Shane Steichen worked in a similar system predicated on high shotgun usage, and plenty of options and RPO wrinkles with Jalen Hurts.

4. Steelers

Willis could be a great Plan B in Pittsburgh if Aaron Rodgers decides to retire and nix a potential reunion with Mike McCarthy. McCarthy worked with Dak Prescott for five years in Dallas and obviously Rodgers in Green Bay, so he would appreciate Willis’ ability to play off schedule. Willis might be a more attractive option for Pittsburgh than reaching on a quarterback in the draft. We saw what happened when they took Kenny Pickett in the first round of a weak class in 2022. 

As for the rest of the league with quarterback openings, I would already rule out the Browns and Jets, two of the worst organizations in the league. They have terrible track records with quarterbacks so I can’t see any world where Willis would sign with either team, even if the Jets were willing to throw him a blank check. I’m sure new Browns head coach Todd Monken would love to work with Willis after his experience with Lamar Jackson, but Cleveland is also saddled with Deshaun Watson’s NFL-record cap hit of $81 million. The Vikings have already expressed interest in adding a veteran to push J.J. McCarthy. The Falcons could be a dark horse with new head coach Kevin Stefanski and Matt Ryan now running the show. 

Good, bad and ugly of paying backup QBs

Willis’ eye-popping talent and gaudy numbers in Green Bay will likely lead to a lucrative deal in a market where demand exceeds supply. I would expect a multi-year deal worth $20-30 million per year. Perhaps somewhere between the Justin Fields (two-year/$40 million) and Sam Darnold (three-year/$101 million) deals last offseason.

We would need a crystal ball to tell you if it’ll be money well spent, though. Even history shows that giving lucrative contracts to inexperienced quarterbacks (basically backups) is like a coin flip. 

I scoured the quarterback landscape for the past few decades and found a handful of signal callers that matched the bill.

Notable inexperienced QBs with big paydays since 2000

Deal Starts Before Starts After

2018 Jimmy Garoppolo SF 

five years/$138M

7

67

2017 Mike Glennon CHI

three years/$45M

18

13

2016 Brock Osweiler HOU 

four years/$72M  

7

23

2016 Tyrod Taylor BUF 

five years/$90M

13

62

2012 Matt Flynn SEA

three years/$20M

2

5

2011 Kevin Kolb ARZ

five years/$64M

7

14

2009 Matt Cassel KC

six years/$63M

15

66

2007 Matt Schaub HOU

six years/$48M

2

91

2001 Matt Hasselbeck SEA 

five years/$24M

0

160

It basically breaks down to the good, bad and ugly of paying backup quarterbacks.

👍 Good: Hasselbeck, Garoppolo, Schaub, Taylor

The best-case scenario here is Matt Hasselbeck. Mike Holmgren traded for Brett Favre’s backup after Holmgren went from Green Bay to Seattle. Hasselbeck was a Pro Bowler and started a Super Bowl with the Seahawks after he made zero starts in his career with the Packers.

Jimmy Garoppolo would also be a good outcome. The 49ers made him the richest quarterback in the NFL after he made just five starts for San Francisco following a midseason trade from the Patriots, where he was Tom Brady’s backup. Jimmy G was a throwaway from potentially winning a Super Bowl in the 2019 season. 

👎 Bad: Cassel

Matt Cassel won 10 games with the Patriots in 2008 after Tom Brady tore his ACL in the season opener. New England slapped the franchise tag on Cassel following the offseason before shipping off to Kansas City for a second-round pick. Cassel never lived up to the six-year contract the Chiefs gave him, producing only one quality season the rest of his career.

😳 Ugly: Glennon, Osweiler, Kolb, Flynn

Then there’s this group. None of them lasted more than two seasons with the team that made a big investment. Matt Flynn is the posterboy for paying a quarterback for a cameo. He threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in a regular-season finale in 2011 for Green Bay. That earned him a three-year deal with the Seahawks, who also drafted Russell Wilson in 2012. Wilson beat out Flynn for the starting job and the rest is history.

So how’s this going to turn out for Willis? In the right system with a good supporting cast, he could be the next QB to reboot his career.