When the new league year opens next week, the Green Bay Packers will need a new backup quarterback. Perhaps Trey Lance can fill the void Malik Willis left.
Willis kept the Packers in playoff contention during his two seasons in Green Bay, filling in for Jordan Love, while also rewriting the trajectory of his career. Now, Willis is one of the top free agents at the most important position in the game, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see him land a $30-million-plus yearly average contract with his next team.
The Packers will give current backups Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord opportunities this offseason. Still, if Matt LaFleur wants to follow the blueprint he found with Willis, there are a few outside hires worth signing. 2021 first-round pick Trey Lance is one of the most intriguing names.
Lance hasn’t found his groove, despite playing for respected offensive minds. Still, he fits the mold for a backup quarterback, and the price will be right. Is the former Bison worth a roll of the dice?
First-round picks get plenty of extra chances because of their draft status. General managers want their initial scouting to prove correct, or to believe that the right staff can unlock and build upon what made a player exciting. It’s not a particularly high hit-rate, but sometimes the grass is actually greener elsewhere.
Matt LaFleur proved this with Malik Willis, a former Day 2 pick who didn’t provide good early returns. But there was a lot to work with. Willis was an elite runner with a powerful arm. The fundamentals needed work, and the arm needed honing. Still, he could run, so LaFleur leaned on that trait early.
Malik Willis dynamic run.
What looked like a 3 yard sack, turned into a 10+ yard first down for the Pack 🤯 pic.twitter.com/KA5aJfePcS
— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) December 28, 2025
While coaching Willis, LaFleur showed that he can play to his quarterback’s strengths while refining other aspects of their game. In early games, LaFleur relied on the rushing attack while having the quarterback throw passes when needed to avoid being completely one-dimensional. As Willis grew more comfortable, LaFleur relied more on his arm strength.
LaFleur’s track record means gambling on another highly talented but raw quarterback is a cunning plan. A dual-threat quarterback means, at the very least, you can rack up some yards. They might not be able to carry the full playbook, but they can keep the offense moving, something not all backups can do.
Lance fits that mold. He’s a dual-threat player with potential but no production.
Still, it’s not uncharitable to call Lance’s career a bust at this point.
Lance was a one-year wonder at North Dakota State. In 2019, Lance had 28 touchdown passes, 14 touchdown runs, and zero interceptions. He had a big arm, could run the ball well, and had the potential to be the most talented pass-thrower in his class.
Trey Lance at North Dakota State
• 208/318
• 65.4%
• 2,947 Passing Yards
• 30 Passing TDs
• 1 INT
• 1,325 Rushing Yards
• 6.9 YPC
• 18 Rushing TDs
NDSU went 16-0 in 2019 pic.twitter.com/jUjXkdoqQI
— College Football Report (@CFBReport) August 18, 2023
However, people were concerned about the small sample size, the level of competition, and Lance’s need to improve fundamentals.
The pandemic cut the 2020 season short, limiting Lance’s growth. In hindsight, he would have been better off staying in college to develop, but teams wanted his talent despite the potential downsides. That talent was still so awe-inspiring that the 49ers used three first-round picks to trade up for him.
Despite some promising plays, inconsistency and injuries limited his early growth. After his second season was cut short early and Brock Purdy emerged as starter material, San Francisco cut their losses early, trading Trey Lance to Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys for a fourth-round pick.
It was more of the same in Dallas. Lance had limited opportunities and didn’t do much with the ones he had. He didn’t play at all in 2023, and his 2024 stat line was a mere 25-for-41 for 266 yards and one interception over four games (one start).
Jim Harbaugh‘s Los Angeles Chargers brought in Lance to back up Justin Herbert. Lance’s lone start in Week 18 was nothing special: 20 for 44 for 136 yards, with an interception and four sacks. He also rushed for 69 yards.
Lance will be a free agent next week, and it’s uncertain if the Chargers will re-sign him.
He looks like a story we’ve seen play out multiple times. A talented quarterback comes out of college too early, loses snaps early, and fades into the cognitive wastes. Kyle Shanahan, Mike McCarthy, and Jim Harbaugh couldn’t get much juice from Lance. Who’s to say LaFleur can?
Well, the Packers need someone, and not every team has even one competent quarterback, let alone two. Any young, cheap backup is going to have some risk.
The Packers also have proven they can make this style of quarterback work. Malik Willis doesn’t play like Jordan Love, yet LaFleur could still tailor a game to his strengths. Tom Clements and Sean Mannion might be gone, but Luke Getsy is a solid quarterback coach whom Aaron Rodgers was fond of. The coaching experience and history are points in Green Bay’s favor.
Finally, Lance would get the chance to work with his best collegiate receiver again, Christian Watson. The two made FCS magic together and helped raise one another’s draft stock. Could even limited opportunities passing to Watson help build comfort?
It’s not certain that Trey Lance can turn his career around with the Packers, and if he didn’t have the draft pedigree, executives may have forgotten his name years ago. It might not even be likely, and fans might not be excited about his name. But he’s only 25 years old, will be cheap, and has skills to build upon. There are worse traits to roll the dice on.
Everyone mentions Anthony Richardson as the next Malik Willis esq MLF project.
(And I would be here for that)
But Trey Lance is another reclamation project that will be on the open market.
He’s be cheap, talented, and still only 25.
— Jacob Morley (@JacobMorley) January 25, 2026