With one preseason game left, the Packers are running out of time to settle the QB2 conversation behind Jordan Love, and the two names in the mix both come with real baggage. Tyrod Taylor brings the kind of résumé that usually buys trust.
Kyle McCord brings the kind of uncertainty that usually keeps a young quarterback on the outside looking in. Neither case is clean.
Taylor’s appeal is easy to spot. He’s been around forever, has played for eight different teams since being drafted in 2011, and has logged 63 career starts.
But the same experience that makes him look stable also comes with a long track record of being just good enough to hang around, not good enough to change a season. He has only one playoff start, which came in 2017 with the Buffalo Bills.
He’s survived in the league for 15 years because he’s been serviceable and, at times, useful with his legs. Still, the preseason hasn’t helped his case much.
Through two games, the 37-year-old has completed 8 of 16 passes for 38 yards and 1 TD, while adding 3 carries for 11 yards. Yes, this is preseason, and Matt LaFleur isn’t showing everything yet, but it’s hard to picture Taylor stepping in and delivering something close to what Malik Willis gave Green Bay.
McCord’s problem is almost the opposite. He’s the baby in the room, and that lack of mileage matters.
Since being drafted in 2025 by the Philadelphia Eagles, he has not seen any regular-season NFL action, so the Packers are working almost entirely off what he’s shown this summer. In two preseason games, McCord has completed 24 of 35 passes for 220 yards.
What he does not bring, at least not in the way Willis did, is much of a rushing threat. That doesn’t automatically disqualify him, but it does leave him with very little proven ammo in a competition where certainty is already in short supply.
The most likely outcome, at least from this view, is that McCord gets cut because of the inexperience factor and sticks around on the practice squad unless something strange happens in Friday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. Taylor has the edge in one important area: he’s been there before, and he can at least be counted on to help steady a locker room if needed. The Packers may prefer that over betting on a quarterback who still has almost nothing on his NFL résumé.
However it plays out, Green Bay’s backup quarterback in 2026 is going to be either a player drafted 180th overall 15 years ago or a player drafted 181st overall 1 year ago. The Packers finish the preseason at home against Mike LaFleur and the Arizona Cardinals on Friday at 7 PM local time.
In Other News...
Packers Could Find Late Roster Help From A Familiar Dolphins Connection
Matt LaFleur has watched another old Packers-Miami pipeline reopen, only this time the possible help could come in uniform. With the Dolphins hiring former Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as head coach and former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as general manager, the ties between the two teams have only deepened, and that familiar connection has a chance to matter as roster cutdown season approaches.
For Green Bay, the interest is less about splash and more about finding useful depth at the right moment. Two Dolphins players, Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Jaylen Wright, fit the kind of late-summer look the Packers often take when theyre trying to shore up the bottom of the roster before the deadline hits, and the shared history between the organizations makes those names worth watching a little closer than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Jacobs Controversy Just Pulled The Packers Into Another Backlash
The off-field cloud around Josh Jacobs has only gotten heavier as reports surfaced that the district attorneys office handling the case has video evidence tied to the alleged assault on his ex-girlfriend. For the Packers, its another uncomfortable headline around a player they brought in to help anchor the offense, and it has quickly turned a legal matter into a public conversation far beyond Green Bay.
Terrence Parsons Jr., Micah Parsons brother, added fuel to it by posting on social media and telling people to relax, while suggesting Jacobs should get a second chance if the case ends up being a misdemeanor. The reaction was swift and critical, with plenty of users calling out the defense, and it only underscored how little room there is for nuance once a story like this spills fully into the online spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Packers Bubble Battle Just Got Much Harder To Call
The Packers closed out the preseason with a 42-38 win over the Cardinals, and while the result mattered less than the evaluation, there was plenty for the coaching staff to sort through. Green Bay sat many of its top players and turned the game over to backup quarterback Kyle McCord, who handled the offense well in his first extended look, while rookie defender Dani Dennis-Sutton and kicker Trey Smack also made their case in meaningful snaps.
The tricky part now is trimming a roster after a night when some reserves flashed and others left more questions than answers. The backup defense gave up plenty of yardage, and several players struggled in their roles, which is exactly the kind of uneven performance that can turn a straightforward bubble decision into a much tougher one. For a team trying to balance upside, reliability and depth, this final preseason tape may have complicated more than it clarified. [Read more 🡒]