The Green Bay Packers have some tough roster decisions to make. That’s no secret. One of them will be with quarterback Joe Callahan.
Callahan certainly played better than anyone expected, while getting more action than any quarterback on the Packers’ roster this preseason. A good deal of that action came against opponents’ first-team defense, as Aaron Rodgers mostly sat around and Brett Hundley was mostly injured.
Callahan threw for 499 yards, the third-best preseason total in the league. He completed 61.4 percent of his passes and had a respectable 88.2 rating (not respectable for Aaron Rodgers, but certainly for Joe Callahan).
Does this guy have an NFL future as a backup? It appears so.
But the Packers have Brett Hundley entrenched as their No. 2. His status could be directly tied to Callahan’s.
Hundley says he’ll practice next week and he’s ready to go for week 1. With Hundley’s status clear, do the Packers need a third quarterback?
The answer is no. The Packers prefer to go with two quarterbacks and rarely keep a third. There have been exceptions of course, like when Matt Flynn outplayed Brian Brohm or last year, when Scott Tolzien was the No. 2 and Hundley stuck as the third.
This isn’t really a question about need, though. It’s a question of, can you afford a third quarterback?
On one hand, that takes away a valuable roster spot you might use at inside linebacker, safety or receiver. On the other hand, we doubt Joe Callahan is going to make it through to the practice squad, where the Packers would ideally like to stash him.
The long-term plan may also factor into this decision. The Packers are going to have to trade Hundley before his contract runs out or they get nothing for him when he walks as a free agent for a starting job elsewhere. And wouldn’t it be nice to have an insurance policy like Joe Callahan around?
5 Comments
If I did not know better I would say either TT was trying to show another team(s) they should put in a trade offer for Callahan (granted a late round or for a another player of need) or the team is keeping him. Last preseason game and you play Callahan into the 4th quarter rather than split the game even or close to even between the 2 QBs indicates to me either a trade possibility or keep. It would appear the Packers do not plan on cutting Callahan otherwise why showcase him.
You might be overvaluing Callahan a bit. Teams have their own QBs to stash and develop, so he might stick for a year on our PS.
I agree we as fans tend to over value, however I see no good reason for the team to leave Callahan in the game for that amount of time if you are trying to get him onto practice squad.
Writers tend to over value also. Before anyone proclaims that a player is going to be signed in free agency to another team as their starting QB. Shouldn’t that QB at least play in an actual NFL game?
If Hundley leaves as a FA we get a comp pick, don’t we? I would guess a late one, since he does not have much playing time in GB.