When the Green Bay Packers made the decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers and trade him to the New York Jets last offseason, there were plenty of questions surrounding Jordan Love and the future of the position. Love answered all of those questions by putting up the best season by a first year starting quarterback in franchise history, completing 64.2% of his passes for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 96.1 passer rating.
Now the only two questions that surround the Packers’ quarterback position are how much Love will make when he signs his contract extension later this month and which of their two recent drafted quarterbacks will serve as his backup.
The Green Bay Packers Have a Battle for Backup Quarterback Between Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt
While there are some pundits who have been calling for the Packers to sign a veteran backup quarterback (like Ryan Tannehill), Green Bay is going to fill the position the same way they did during Rodgers’ tenure with them: with their own drafted quarterbacks.
In 2008, the year that Rodgers took over for Brett Favre, the Packers selected Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn in the NFL Draft. Brohm, a second-round pick, lost the battle to be Rodgers’ backup to Flynn, who was a seventh-round pick.
Similarly, the Packers drafted Sean Clifford in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to compete with USFL MVP Alex McGough to be Love’s backup. Clifford, of course, won the competition and served as the backup quarterback last season.
Green Bay, however, wanted to create competition at the position and, according to Brian Gutekunst, get back to drafting and developing multiple quarterbacks. This led them to select Michael Pratt in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Early showings in OTA’s favored Pratt, but Clifford has the experience in Matt LaFleur’s system that the new quarterback does not. However, if Pratt continues to outshine Clifford during training camp, one NFL analyst believes the Packers could trade Clifford.
Green Bay Packers Quarterback Sean Clifford Named as Possible Trade Candidate
Due to Clifford’s struggles during OTA’s, there are many who believe he will lose his job to Pratt once training camp and the preseason are all said and done. With Pratt’s stock on the rise, one NFL analyst believes that Green Bay would be wise to trade Clifford:
“Pratt has good accuracy and decision-making but needs to anticipate throws better. He is a high-upside player with a great shot at becoming Jordan Love’s primary backup for 2024 — which is bad news for incumbent Sean Clifford.
“Clifford, a 2023 fifth-round pick, did not attempt a pass during his rookie season but will face significant competition from the talented Michael Pratt. Clifford is a cut candidate who also could find himself traded during training camp if the rookie Pratt outshines him.”
While it might be surprising to some that Clifford could be traded, the entire idea behind drafting and developing multiple quarterbacks is to be able to land more draft capital in trades for those players. That being said, with McGough moving to wide receiver, it is far more likely that the loser of the backup of quarterback battle gets relegated to the practice squad.
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