Green Bay Packers

Four years ago, Malik Willis was favored to be the first quarterback in the draft. He wasn’t.

At pick No. 86, Willis went third among all quarterbacks, behind Kenny Pickett and Desmond Ridder.

It never really clicked for Willis in Tennessee, and he became expendable after two seasons. The Packers obtained Willis for a seventh-round pick not long before the start of the 2024 season.

While he has been the clear No. 2 to Jordan Love for the last two years, Willis has made the most of his limited opportunities.

In 11 appearances with four starts for the Packers, Willis completed 70 of 89 passes (78.6 percent) for 972 yards (10.92 yards per attempt), six touchdowns, and no interceptions. His passer rating was 134.64. He also has 261 rushing yards on 42 attempts (6.2 yards per carry) for three touchdowns.

Yes, the sample size is small. But, yes, the impact has been significant.

And he’s less than three weeks away from free agency.

Where he goes, and what he’ll get, becomes one of the more intriguing questions of free agency. The coming class of free-agent quarterbacks is headlined by Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones. One is 42, and the other is recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. Both are generally expected to return to their current teams (Steelers and Colts, respectively).

Other current free-agent options for quarterback-needy teams include Russell Wilson, Marcus Mariota, Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, Pickett, Zack Wilson, and Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Kirk Cousins contract adjustment from January guarantees he’ll be cut on March 11 or 12, so he’s essentially a free agent. Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa likely will be released, unless a trade can be worked out for either or both. The Jets also could move on from Justin Fields. And Mac Jones looms as a potential trade option, if the 49ers are willing to move him. (They say they’re not, but ‘tis the season for posturing.)

Then there’s Geno Smith, who already has $18.5 million fully guaranteed from the Raiders in 2026, with the remaining $8 million vesting on the third day of the 2026 league year. He could be available for trade, or he could be cut. (The Raiders also could keep him as the bridge to Fernando Mendoza, if they make him the first overall pick in the draft.)

Willis’s numbers are undeniable. Is he ready to be a full-time starter? And is a team ready to give him a starter-level contract?

As starter-level contracts go, the range is broad. The market tops, generally speaking, at $60 million per year. The bottom of the veteran starter market, as of last year, was $10.5 million for Russell Wilson (who started only three games). Fields has a $20 million average, and he received $30 million guaranteed on a two-year deal. (Fields also was eventually benched, after being publicly bad-mouthed by his thin-skinned owner.)

Sam Darnold, with only one viable suitor, received $33.5 million per year on a three-year deal from Seattle, which has quickly proven to be a steal. (In hindsight, he should have signed a one-year deal, like Jones did in Indy. With no other options, however, it wouldn’t have been easy to insist on a one-year commitment.)

Where will Willis fit? Much of it depends on the number of teams that pursue him. The Dolphins, who are now run by a pair of former Packers employees, are a team to watch — if they can wedge Willis’s contract into the cap wreckage of the Tua contract. The Cardinals, where Packers coach Matt LaFleur’s brother, Mike, is now the head coach, could make sense, too.

The Steelers could be an option, but they seem to be content to wait for Rodgers to make a decision. Which would take them out of play in the early days of free agency. The Vikings will be looking for a veteran to compete with J.J. McCarthy.

And don’t rule out the Ravens. If (and it’s not a big if but it’s still on the radar screen) they trade Lamar Jackson, they’ll need a quarterback, too.

Other teams that will or at least could be looking for a veteran quarterback include the Jets, Browns, Colts (if Jones leaves), and Falcons.

Someone surely will want Willis. The more teams that want him, the more money he’ll make.

The process will accelerate next week in Indianapolis, where every team will meet with every agent who represents every looming free agent in an annual swap meet of untraceable tampering that happens with no electronic footprints or popcorn trail.

Our guess is that Willis will land between $20 million and $30 million per year — unless a land rush emerges. If that happens, who knows? $35 million? $40 million? (While $40 million sounds like a lot, it’s still only 66.6 percent of the current market limit.)

Or maybe Willis will have the leverage and willingness to insist on a one-year deal that pays him a relatively modest salary but gives him another shot at free agency in 2027. (A no-tag clause would be even better, if not virtually impossible to finagle on a one-year deal.)

However it goes, it’s a story that isn’t getting the kind of attention it should, or that it will once teams start jostling for a chance to see whether Willis can do on a full-time basis what he did as a part-timer for the Packers.

His numbers suggest that he could be not just a capable starter but a potential superstar. With true franchise quarterbacks so hard to find, why wouldn’t someone roll the dice on the possibility of landing a player who could become one of the best quarterbacks in the league?

Rich Bisaccia has stepped down as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Packers.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur made the announcement Tuesday.

“While we are disappointed to lose a person and coach as valuable as Rich, we respect his decision to step down from the Packers,” LaFleur said in a statement. “Rich was a tremendous resource to me and our entire coaching staff who had a profound impact on our players and our culture throughout the building. We can’t thank him enough for his contributions to our team over the last four years. We wish Rich, his wife, Jeanne, and the rest of their family all the best moving forward.”

For the first time since 1983, Bisaccia is pausing his coaching career.

He has worked for as the special teams coordinator for the Bucs, Chargers, Cowboys, Raiders and Packers. He was also assistant head coach for each of those teams, and in 2021, was the interim coach of the Raiders.

Las Vegas went 7-5 under Bisaccia, earning a playoff berth. The Raiders lost to the Bengals in the wild-card round. It earned Bisaccia an interview for the full-time job in the 2022 offseason and won him the support of several players, including Maxx Crosby. The Raiders, though, hired Josh McDaniels.

“After taking some time to reflect over the last few weeks, I have made the decision to step down as the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator of the Green Bay Packers,” Bisaccia said in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful to Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst, Ed Policy and Mark Murphy for their unwavering trust and support throughout my time in Green Bay. I am also thankful to the players for their consistent work and relentless effort to improve every single day. I would like to thank everyone in the organization for their dedication and commitment. The people in this building make it a special place to work.

“I want to also thank our fans and the people throughout the Green Bay community for their passion and love for this team. Coaching for the Green Bay Packers was truly an honor, and I will always be grateful for my time here. I look forward to whatever is next for me and my family, and I wish nothing but the best for everyone in the organization.”

The Dolphins are in a full blown Two Days After St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

The latest to go is receiver Tyreek Hill. And it’s the least surprising.

Even without the significant knee injury he suffered on September 29, this was coming. Even without the firing of G.M. Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel, this was coming.

Hill was due to make $35 million in 2026, the final year of his contract. He had a $5 million roster bonus that was due on the third day of the new league year.

He was always going to be released. He was always going to be available on the open market.

Now, for the first time, he’ll be free and clear to sign with anyone.

The question is whether Hill will be signed before he’s fully and completely healthy and, if so, whether his contract will include protections based on Hill eventually passing a physical. Sometimes, a player has enough leverage (like receiver Chris Godwin a year ago) to avoid such limitations on his pay.

Hill turns 32 on March 1. The best of his best days are likely behind him. If healthy, however, he’s still pretty damn good.

The most obvious potential destination is Kansas City. Last year at the Super Bowl, Hill expressed some regret for leaving in the first place. With Eric Bieniemy back as the offensive coordinator, the Chiefs could decide to bring Hill back, too. Which may have the added benefit of getting tight end Travis Kelce to return for another season.

The Chargers could become a potential destination, given McDaniel’s arrival there as offensive coordinator. They desperately need effective weapons for quarterback Justin Herbert — and a 32-year-old Hill would instantly be better than anything else they currently have.

Other teams with needs at the position should give Hill a look, including (to name a few) the Bills, Ravens, Steelers, Packers, Jets (who tried to trade for him four years ago), Patriots, and Seahawks (who need a strong, consistent complement to Jaxon Smith-Njigba).

Green Bay is going with an internal option for its next quarterbacks coach.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Packers are naming Luke Getsy to the position.

Getsy, 41, replaces Sean Mannion, who departed the franchise to become Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator.

Getsy was previously Green Bay’s quarterbacks coach under head coach Matt LaFleur from 2019-2021. He left to become the Bears’ offensive coordinator, holding that position from 2022-2023. He was then the Raiders’ offensive coordinator in 2024 before he was fired midseason.

He returned to the Packers in 2024 as a defensive consultant before moving back to the other side of the ball in 2025 as senior offensive assistant.

The Seahawks won Super Bowl LX less than 24 hours ago and some have already turned their attention to Super Bowl LXI.

Sportsbooks have set the odds for who will be raising the Lombardi Trophy in SoFi Stadium on February 14, 2027. The Seahawks are at the top of the list, but they aren’t the only team on that rung.

They aren’t even the only NFC West team. The Rams join the Seahawks at +950 at DraftKings at the moment.

The Bills have the top odds of any AFC team with the Eagles, Patriots, and Ravens tied for the fourth spot. The Packers, Lions, Chargers, and Chiefs round out the top 10.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Cardinals and Dolphins are both at +25000.

Packers president Ed Policy made a big decision to kick off the team’s offseason when he reached agreement with head coach Matt LaFleur on a contract extension.

LaFleur was set to go into the final year of his contract and there was some question about whether he’d be back after the team blew a 21-3 halftime lead in their playoff loss to the Packers. The nature of that loss helped fuel the doubts about LaFleur’s future in Green Bay, but Policy explained in a column for the team’s website that he put more value in LaFleur’s long-term record than on the immediate reaction to the loss.

“Football is an emotional game, and I understand the high emotions that go into a playoff game against our longest-held rival,” Policy said. “However, in my seat, you must rise above emotions and analyze objectively an entire body of work to make a long-term decision that puts the team in the best position to compete for Super Bowls year in and year out. That’s the process I went through following our season. Candidly, over the years I’ve grown to appreciate ownership groups that built dynasties through level-headed steadfast continuity in lieu of emotional chaos.”

LaFleur is 76-40-1 over seven seasons in Green Bay and that record supports Policy’s decision to take the long view with the coach. A deep playoff run in 2026 would still be a good way to ensure the questions aren’t back on the table next January.

The Eagles are continuing to reshape their offensive coaching staff.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they will hire Ryan Mahaffey as their run game coordinator and tight ends coach. Mahaffey and new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion worked together in Green Bay for the last two seasons.

Jeff Stoutland was the team’s run game coordinator in addition to serving as their offensive line coach, but he announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving the team after 13 seasons. Jason Michael was the tight ends coach on Nick Sirianni’s staff for the last five seasons.

Mahaffey spent the last five seasons on the Packers’ staff. He was a quality control coach and assistant offensive line coach before coaching the team’s wide receivers the last two years.

The Packers’ season ended when they blew a 21-3 lead in the second half of a playoff loss to the Bears and that collapse mirrored the way they finished out the regular season.

After starting the year 9-3-1, the Packers lost their final four games to head into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. During a press conference on Wednesday, General Manager Brian Gutekunst said he “thought we had an opportunity to kind of round into form there in the second half of the season” and that addressing the failure to do so after stronger finishes earlier in head coach Matt LaFleur’s run in Green Bay.

“In Matt’s first five years, we were 25-8 in December and January,” Gutekunst said, via the team’s website. “I think we’re 3-9 the last two years, so we’re looking at that from a lot of different angles, to make sure that we’re playing our best football in December and January. We’ve got to win the games that matter the most. That was a strength of ours prior to these last couple of years, was how we finished. We were playing our best football at the end of the season. We haven’t done that the last two years.”

The Packers were missing players like Micah Parsons, Tucker Kraft and Devonte Wyatt at the end of the year, but Gutekunst rejected that explanation for the downturn. He said the team had “everything we needed to win those football games,” so the focus is going to be on other factors for the disappointing finish.

If the Cowboys had to trade Micah Parsons, CeeDee Lamb wishes it wouldn’t have taken so long.

Lamb visited PFT Live today on Radio Row at Super Bowl LX and talked about losing Parsons as a teammate and how difficult it was to see Parsons’ long negotiations with the Cowboys overshadow the team’s preparation for the 2025 season.

“As his teammate and as his brother I wish I would have known what the situation would have been and we wouldn’t have dragged it out,” Lamb said.

As Parsons showed up to training camp but generally declined to participate until he got a new contract, Lamb kept thinking a deal would get done for Parsons to stay with the Cowboys long-term. It didn’t.

“Let’s just prepare to have him, as we go through our preparation and seeing him out there in his pads, we’re like, ‘Any day now.’ And that day never came for us,” Lamb said.

Instead, it happened for the Packers, who traded two first-round draft picks and Kenny Clark to the Cowboys for Parsons. And only after a long process that was tough for Parsons’ teammates in Dallas to endure.

Though the Packers made the postseason in 2025, the club finished the year with five consecutive losses — including a 31-27 defeat at the hands of the division-rival Bears in the wild card round.

It’s worth noting that streak includes a Week 18 loss in which the club rested its starters. But that’s little consolation for the final result.

Still, Green Bay General Manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters in his Wednesday press conference that he was pleased with quarterback Jordan Love’s play in 2025, particularly late.

“I thought Jordan played really, really good football — some of his best football, especially down the stretch,” Gutekunst said. “I actually thought he was one of our guys that played very, very well down the stretch. Continues to be an unbelievable leader for our football team. I couldn’t speak more highly of what I think about Jordan and where he’s headed.

“As good as he’s been for us, I do think he’ll continue to get better because it’s important to him. He works at his craft. He’s always looking for another edge. So, yeah, I feel really good about that.”

Love, 27, did not appear to be the problem for Green Bay in 2025. He completed 66.3 percent of his passes for 3,381 yards with 23 touchdowns and six interceptions in his 15 regular-season games, with four game-winning drives. He then went 24-of-46 for 323 yards with four touchdowns in the postseason loss to Chicago.

But in Love’s three seasons as a starter, the Packers are now 1-3 in the postseason. That is a record Green Bay would surely like to improve in 2026.