Skip to main content

Reports: Vince Young signs with Green Bay Packers, will compete for backup job

Vince Young worked out for several teams this offseason, before signing with the Packers. (Eric Gay, AP)

Vince Young worked out for several teams this offseason, before signing with the Packers. (Eric Gay, AP)

Vince Young is back in the NFL, 343 days after the Buffalo Bills released the former No. 3 overall pick. Young reportedly signed a one-year deal with Green Bay, where he'll compete for a backup job behind Aaron Rodgers.

ESPN's Josina Anderson first reported that the deal was done, and the news was confirmed by several outlets moments later.

Young's last meaningful action in a regular-season game came on Dec. 1, 2011, when he made his last start for the Philadelphia Eagles as a fill-in for an injured Michael Vick. He tossed four interceptions that day, as part of a 31-14 loss, then surrendered the starting job back to Vick.

Rodgers has missed just two starts since taking over as the Packers starter in 2008 -- one in 2010 after suffering a concussion against the Lions; another the next season when Green Bay held him out of a Week 17 game vs. Detroit in anticipation of the playoffs. So, Green Bay hopes that the backup QB's identity is more or less moot once Week 1 hits.

That said, Young should have every opportunity to claim that role, ahead of 2012 seventh-rounder B.J. Coleman and Graham Harrell, Rodgers' backup last season. Though Young sat out the 2012 season following his release in Buffalo, his experience alone could make him a better option for the Packers in the event of a Rodgers injury.

There was a time, too, before Young melted down in Tennessee and then flamed out in Philadelphia and Buffalo, when the 2005 Heisman runner-up was considered one of the league's rising stars. Those days have come and gone, of course, with Young sitting on 30 years old, but he reportedly performed fairly well at the University of Texas's Pro Day back in March. He then was linked to multiple teams as a possible backup, including Seattle and Oakland.

Nothing came of those talks, leaving Young on the table for the Packers. There's now word yet on if Young will suit up for Green Bay's preseason opener on Friday, vs. Arizona. If he cannot get up to speed in three days, his Packers debut may have to wait until Aug. 17, when Green Bay visits St. Louis.

Colin Kaepernick