In the span of a few days, the Green Bay Packers twice turned to the Tennessee Titans for potential solutions at two of the biggest question marks on their roster entering 2024: backup quarterback and kicker.
On Monday, the Packers agreed to send a seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft to the Titans for quarterback Malik Willis, who is now the only other quarterback on the 53-man roster behind Jordan Love and expected to be the primary backup.
On Wednesday, the Packers were awarded rookie kicker Brayden Narveson off waivers from the Titans, providing the team’s new kicker after Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph put on an uninspiring kicker battle all summer.
In one sense, the Packers aggressively attacked two areas of the roster that weren’t good enough during training camp and could hugely affect the team’s chances of being a contender in 2024. Backup quarterbacks often have to play during the course of a season. Sometimes, teams need them to win a few games while the starter is out. Kickers, meanwhile, have incredibly fine margins, and a miss here or a miss there can and often does doom a season. The Packers learned that lesson the hard way last January in San Francisco.
In another sense, the Packers are gambling on inexperience and potential. While a third-round pick, Willis has thrown only 66 passes over just three regular season starts entering 2024. He didn’t start a single game and saw only 22 snaps total last season. His talent is clear, but Willis still fits into the “developmental” bucket at quarterback. Could he enter a game and hold down the fort for the Packers in 2024? At kicker, Brayden is a rookie who has never kicked a regular season game. He was excellent during the preseason, connecting on 6-of-7 field goals, including a 59-yarder and a 46-yard game-winner. But it’s certainly possible that Narveson’s first meaningful kicks in the NFL will come in a foreign country (Brazil) in a nationally televised primetime game (vs. Eagles on Friday, Sept. 6) when the Packers open the 2024 season. The pressure is on.
General manager Brian Gutekunst said he saw “progression” out Willis this preseason, while Narveson was a kicker they liked coming out of North Carolina State this year. Willis completed 20 or 27 passes over three preseason games. Narveson’s only miss was a 58-yarder.
In an ideal scenario, Willis rarely has to see the field and Narveson quietly makes most of his kicks and avoids any game-altering misses for a Packers team that could be a Super Bowl contender this season.
Still, credit the Packers for not settling at two important spots and using talent-acquiring tools — a trade and waiver claim — to add players they think are upgrades. Time will tell if they made the right decisions. If Willis gets the Packers through a tough injury stretch and Narveson turns out to be the answer at kicker, the Titans will end up helping Matt LaFleur’s team write an important part of their 2024 story.
