Packers Win, Lose With Malik Willis Signing With Dolphins

In what might wind up being the most obvious move in NFL free agency, the Miami Dolphins signed quarterback Malik Willis away from the Green Bay Packers on Monday.

The Dolphins, led by the new leadership regime of Jon-Eric Sullivan and Jeff Hafley, released quarterback Tua Tagovailoa on Monday morning. Barely one hour into free agency, they gave Willis a three-year contract worth $67.5 million and including $45 million guaranteed.

New Dolphins QB Malik Willis' 3-year, $67.5 million deal.

• $22.25 million signing bonus (fully guar.).
• $1.25 million base for 2026 (fully guar.).
• $21.5 million base for 2027 (fully guar.).
• $2 million roster bonus, due March 2028.
• $20.5 million base for 2028.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 9, 2026

If that money is accurate and Willis is the full-time starter, the Packers should be positioned to get a third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 draft.

Here's my rough guess as to where the round cutoffs for 2027 compensatory picks coulb be, depending on a high (~>75%) or mid (~50%) expected snap count.

Teams wanting to be mindful about getting comp picks should try to keep offers comfortably below each number as appropriate. pic.twitter.com/4PMPcrLb7r
— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) March 6, 2026

That would be a nice addition, but Willis is a key – if predictable – loss. How will they pivot?

Malik Willis Was Excellent

Willis provided two years of excellent play for the Packers.

After two poor seasons with the Titans as their third-round pick in 2022, Willis was acquired by the Packers for a seventh-round pick at the end of training camp in 2024. He was superb.

Willis completed 85.7 percent of his passes with a 145.5 passer rating this past season. He completed 30-of-35 passes; of the five incompletions, two were drops. In 2024, when he was thrust into the lineup not long after being acquired, Willis was a runner and complementary passer. In 2025, he was a full-fledged quarterback. Willis attacked downfield, made big plays with his arm and legs, and avoided big mistakes.

Willis played in 11 games with three starts in two seasons for Tennessee, and threw zero touchdown passes, three interceptions and had a 49.4 passer rating. With an identical 11 games and three starts the past two seasons with the Packers, Willis threw six touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 134.6 passer rating.

Using last season’s 35 passing attempts as the threshold, there were 115 individual quarterbacking seasons in 2024 and 2025 of 35-plus passing attempts and at least one start, according to Stathead. Here’s how those seasons ranked.

Passer rating: 1, Willis, 145.5 in 2025; 2, Willis, 124.8 in 2024.

Completion percentage: 1, Willis, 85.7 in 2025; 3, Willis, 74.1 in 2024.

Yards per attempt: 1, Willis, 12.1 in 2025; 2, Willis, 10.2 in 2024.

Yards per completion: 3, Willis, 14.1 in 2025; 4, Willis, 13.8 in 2024.

The past two seasons, there were 115 individual seasons of a quarterback throwing 35 passes with at least one start. Based on those small but precise guidelines, Willis had the best and second-best passer ratings.

“As it pertains to the Miami Dolphins, listen, I think I’d be lying to you,” Sullivan said at the Scouting Combine. “Any team that is potentially in a needy quarterback situation, if they tell you they’re not talking about Malik Willis, that would be a lie.”

The Dolphins walked the walk and let the money do the talking.

“Very happy for Malik on a personal level, the situation that he’s put himself in,” Sullivan said. “Malik’s a very, very good kid. It’s a testament to him and how he played and the opportunities that he got. … We got a lot of decisions to make as we move through the next couple of weeks. But I wish Malik the best. A lot of like for the human being.”

Now What for Packers?

A good backup quarterback is vital, as the Packers learned the last two seasons when Jordan Love was out of the lineup.

On Dec. 31, Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst signed Desmond Ridder to the practice squad.

Ridder, 26, was a third-round pick in 2022 by the Falcons. He started 17 games with the Falcons (four in 2022, 13 in 2023) and one game with the Raiders in 2024. For his career, he’s completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 4,002 yards with 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and an 82.6 passer rating.

“Yeah, we didn’t have him for very long, but was very excited when he was with us,” Gutekunst said at the Scouting Combine. “Certainly, we’ve scouted him over a number of years. He brings some elements we would like in a backup quarterback. I think he’s got a little bit of upside.”

Ridder is 8-10 as a starter. One of the wins came against the Packers in 2023 at Atlanta.

“I don’t think he’s hit his full potential yet, so I’m excited about that,” Gutekunst said. “But there’ll be competition in there, for sure.”

Part of that competition is Kyle McCord, who the Packers signed to a futures contract after the season. He led the nation in passing at Syracuse in 2024 but failed to make the Eagles’ roster as a sixth-round pick last year.

“Obviously, spent some time at Ohio State, had a really good year at Syracuse his final year,” Gutekunst said. “We really liked his moxie and he won a bunch of games at both places. From the scouting process, always had an eye on him, and when he became available, we thought it made some sense.”

There are some veteran options in free agency, as well. While Mitch Trubisky signed with the Titans, Marcus Mariota – who played under Packers coach Matt LaFleur with the Titans in 2018 – former Steelers starter Kenny Pickett and longtime NFL quarterback Tyrod Taylor are available. So is Jake Browning, who was not given a restricted free agent tender by the Bengals.

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