Packers are doing early draft homework as potential Malik Willis replacement options begin to emerge
Green Bay may want another developmental QB.
The Green Bay Packers know the type of quarterback they want. Jordan Love is the franchise quarterback, so the team doesn’t need to spend high draft capital on the position. However, with Malik Willis set to hit free agency, general manager Brian Gutekunst is already doing his homework with quarterback prospects.
One of them is Diego Pavia, the former Vanderbilt QB, who’s leaving for the NFL after six college seasons.
“Getting back to drafting multiple quarterbacks is something that I’ve wanted to do,” Gutekunst said back in 2024.
What’s the range of QBs for the Packers
Our friend Easton Butler, from Packer Report, does a great job tracking the players with whom the Packers met in the pre-draft process. According to him, the Packers met with Pavia at the Senior Bowl.
He’s the most notable, but certainly not the first quarterback contacted by Green Bay over the past month.
The Packers also talked to Darryl Overstreet Jr. (Upper Iowa), Dequan Finn (Miami-OH), and Jase Bauer (UT-Martin). Over the next few weeks, there will be more to come.
The sequence, though, shows exactly the type of prospect the Packers are looking for. Pavia is the 294th overall prospect on the consensus big board, the 13th quarterback. Finn is the 44th QB on the class, the last one on the consensus board, and the 849th overall prospect. Bauer and Overstreet are not even on the list.
That means the Packers won’t chase players in the fifth round like they did with Sean Clifford in 2023, for instance. If they take a quarterback, it should be a developmental piece with upside to be a backup in the seventh round or, more likely, as an undrafted free agent.
Right now, the Packers have three quarterbacks under contract. Behind Love, Desmond Ridder (former third-round pick) was signed late last season and is already signed through 2026. In the offseason, Green Bay also added Kyle McCord, a fifth-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles last year.
The Packers might be willing to add more competition to the room — be it with sights on the 53-man roster or the practice squad during the regular season. But it’s clear that the investment won’t be that high this time around.
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