It seems that every year, there’s a wild card at the quarterback in free agency that teams will be inclined to bet on if they don’t have sure options at the position. A mystery box, if you will. This year, that quarterback is Malik Willis, a former third-round pick out of Liberty by the Titans. After two seasons in Tennessee, he was traded to Green Bay, where he’s backed up Jordan Love the past two seasons.

In limited appearances, Willis has flashed intriguing upside while keeping the prolific Packers offense on schedule. In 11 games with the Packers, Willis has gone 70 of 89 for 972 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, adding 261 rushing yards and another three touchdowns. Despite his reputation as a bit of a gunslinger at Liberty, Willis has taken good care of the football and executed the offense well in Green Bay.

That said, he’s still largely unproven. Outside of a handful of starts down the stretch of his rookie campaign, Willis has never been given an extended leash as a starter. We still don’t know what he looks like when asked to produce week in, week out, with defenses game-planning specifically to stop him. Still, given the dearth of other options in free agency or the draft, Willis should have no shortage of interested parties.

As far as his contract will go, Willis is expected to command a deal in the $25-30 million range. Something similarly structured to the two-year, $40 million contract Justin Fields signed with the Jets last year, perhaps, though Willis should command more money.

After Fields at $20 million, the next quarterback contract in line is Baker Mayfield’s at $33.33 million. It would be a major surprise if Willis seriously challenged that number, but it wouldn’t be crazy if he came in at just north of $30 million. Regardless of what you think of him as a player, that’s just the going rate for quarterbacks with a pulse these days.

Willis, 26, started for two years at Liberty after transferring over from Auburn. He led them to a 17-6 record in his two seasons. The Titans selected him with the No. 86 overall pick in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. 

Tennessee traded Willis to the Packers coming out of the preseason for a seventh-round pick. 

He just finished out the final year of a four-year, $5.16 million rookie contract that included a $932,800 signing bonus and is set to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career this coming offseason.

In 2025, Willis appeared in four games for the Packers and completed 85.7 percent of his passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns. Willis also rushed 22 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns.

We have him included in our Top 100 – 2026 NFL Free Agents. 

Arizona Cardinals

The growing favorite to land Willis would be the Cardinals, as multiple reports have indicated. They have $39.70 million in available cap space, and though they don’t have many easy avenues to get more, that should be enough to absorb Willis’ expected contract.

And the Cardinals need a new quarterback. Kyler Murray has been informed he’ll be released at the start of the new league year, leaving nearly $55 million in dead money that the Cardinals will split with a June 1 designation. They could roll with Jacoby Brissett again after the backup stepped into Murray’s shoes for the bulk of last season and played well, but for GM Monti Ossenfort who might be on the hot seat, an option with more upside might be necessary.

The fact is, Arizona just doesn’t have many options at quarterback. Willis is the best available free agent and there aren’t any interesting names in the draft aside from Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who will be drafted by the Raiders at No. 1. The Cardinals have a new head coach in Mike LaFleur, who has a pretty good line to his brother in Green Bay to figure out how to get the best out of Willis, and a pretty solid offensive infrastructure. They’ll be hoping Willis is the piece that can tie it all together.

New York Jets

The other major player for Willis’ services is expected to be New York. The Jets tried the Fields experiment last year and it didn’t work out, but they’re picking at No. 2 and won’t have a shot at Mendoza. There’s some buzz that they might be eyeing Alabama QB Ty Simpson in the middle of the first round, but Willis is another option.

The upside for the Jets here is that Willis’ floor is high enough to scrape together some wins and provide another year to this coaching staff and front office. Everyone’s in an awkward position given the unexpectedly poor first year for Aaron Glenn and company. Another down year culminating in a top draft pick seems to be in the cards, but if that happens, ownership may choose to clean house again rather than tying a rookie quarterback to a hot-seat coach.

That puts this team under a lot of pressure to win, and shelling out for Willis makes a lot of sense from that viewpoint. With $73.89 million in available cap space, money isn’t an issue here. One way or another, New York needs to add multiple quarterbacks this offseason and Willis can help them win games in the short term while also providing at least some upside for the future. There might not be another quarterback available this cycle that bridges both of those goals as well.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are another team expected to be involved in Willis’ market. Tua Tagovailoa’s days in Miami are about to come to an end, and new HC Jeff Hafley will be on the lookout for a new starting quarterback. There are some rumblings that the team could go into the year with 2025 seventh-round pick Quinn Ewers as the starter, but they’ll at least try and find a better option before resorting to that. Hafley and new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan had a first-row seat to Willis’ development in Green Bay the last two years. 

Money is going to be a problem, though. The Dolphins are currently $1.95 million over the cap and don’t have a ton of levers they can pull to easily free up more. Cutting Tagovailoa will result in a hefty dead cap hit and it’s better for the Dolphins long-term if they absorb that now rather than trying to spread it out over future seasons. Willis won’t come cheap and finding the budget for him will be difficult.

Still, if Miami wants to make a serious run at Willis as their top priority in free agency, they’ll find a way to make the money work. This roster is a long way from contending, but quarterback drives so much in the NFL. If you have a chance to take a swing on a guy who could become your quarterback of the future, why not?

Other teams to watch: Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts