One luxury of having a franchise quarterback is that you can focus on quarterback prospects over QB1 every offseason. For the last 30+ years, the Green Bay Packers have had this luxury. Well, except for maybe Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love's first season as starters, they were solidified as number one after that. While you need a reliable backup just in case that franchise QB goes down, you're still afforded the luxury of bringing in whomever you want. It could be a veteran backup or a young up-and-comer. For the Packers, more often than not, it ends up being a young up-and-comer.
Why go with the young bucks when so many teams will put a veteran behind their less-experienced franchise QBs? Well, the Packers have had another luxury during the launch of the starting tenures of their latest two franchise QBs. That would be a legendary quarterback's coach. Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love didn't necessarily need to lean on a veteran backup for advice, they had Tom Clements in their corner. And when you have a great coach like Clements, you want to give him more than one talented student. Hence, the young backups. When those young backups progress far enough to become starters, who knows what the possibilities will be? Unfortunately, in the last few decades, the Packers haven't gotten much out of trying to trade their backup QB projects. Only Matt Hasselbeck in 2001 has produced a decent return in a trade when he was sent to Seattle for a 1st round pick swap and a third-round pick.
Otherwise, outside of trades, the backup QBs have only produced serviceable tenures in relief duty. The recent example of such a tenure has been Malik Willis, who led the Packers to two wins in 2024 in relief of Jordan Love. During this offseason, many have debated what Malik Willis' value may be on the trade market. The Packers acquired him for a seventh-round pick from the Tennessee Titans at the end of the 2024 preseason when it seemed like he had zero future in Nashville. The tides have turned on Willis' career, where he is now considered one of the top backups heading into 2025. 2025 also happens to be the final year of Willis's rookie contract. If he continues to prove to be a good backup, he could earn a decent contract as a starter, or even a high-dollar backup in 2026. We all know the Packers aren't going to pay that. With a large contract on another squad, possibly earning the Packers a high compensatory pick the following season, I'd expect the Packers to keep Willis unless a team offers the Packers a 1st or 2nd round pick before the trade deadline.
So, whenever Malik Willis' time in Green Bay comes to an end, where does that leave the Packers for the QB2 position?
Enter Taylor Elgersma
Normally, when you bring a fourth quarterback into camp while having an established QB1, they're just there as an extra hand. A QB4 in Training Camp is often called a "camp arm" as they're assumed to just be there to handle the extra reps for all the extra pass catchers in attendance so that QB1 doesn't get overworked. But that appears to be different this season with the Packers. They have QB1 in Jordan Love, they have QB2 in Malik Willis, but who's going to be their developmental QB3 for 2025?
Sean Clifford had a good start after being drafted in the 5th round of the 2023 draft. He found himself in the QB2 position behind Jordan Love and put together a good enough Training Camp and Preseason that some folks even debated if he should be considered for QB1. Of course, this was an exaggeration, but Clifford made a statement that he could be a valuable backup QB for the future. He was then challenged in 2024 by 7th-round pick Michael Pratt as from what some assumed to be a "prove it" QB2 competition. Unfortunately, neither QB showed they deserved the position, which resulted in Pratt's release, the trade for Malik Willis, and Clifford's demotion to the practice squad. This offseason, Clifford could even be challenged for that practice squad position.
After having him in on a tryout for rookie mini camps, the Packers recently signed QB Taylor Elgersma out of Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. Packer fans couldn't be blamed at all if they thought of Elgersma's signing as being a camp arm, however, the Packers' previous interest in Elgersma shows that this may not be the case. Back in mid-April, the Packers had Elgersma in on a top-30 visit to Lambeau Field. There is definitely some interest there beyond just taking up practice reps.
Yes, you saw that right, Taylor Elgersma is a Canadian football player, but he was a darn good one. Good enough that he was invited to the Senior Bowl as only the second player in U Sports history to be invited. He put up 4,252 yards, 35 TDs, and 11 INTs for the Laurier Golden Hawks in 2024 and earned the Hec Crighton Trophy, which is the Canadian equivalent of the Heisman Trophy. Elgersma has great arm talent and size at 6'5", but the biggest knock on him will be the quality of competition, given his time in Canada and how that will stack up against NFL talent. Some believe that he has enough physical talent that if he ends up in a good situation with a team that already has an established QB or two, he could develop over time into a serviceable roster addition.
In years past, the common quote would be, "let Tom Clements get ahold of this guy." Well, now it's Tom Clements' protege, Sean Mannion. It should be interesting to see if Mannion can build the same resume that Clements did and not only help Jordan Love, but assist in developing the backups too like Taylor Elgersma.
Last Training Camp, it was believed that Michael Pratt may have been the favorite for the QB2 position over Sean Clifford. That was wrong. But, it was also a little bit right. Sean Clifford was not QB2, but Michael Pratt ended up out of the Packers' locker room altogether. It's like Clifford has taken a step back in each season. First QB2 and then practice squad. This year, we'll see if he even has a locker at 1265 Lombardi Ave. The competition is on.