QB Malik Willis has the perfect perspective after being traded to the Packers

The business of football is tough at this time of the year. Players lose their jobs, and some of them don't find another opportunity in the NFL. But trades are also tricky. Even though the situation might eventually be better for the athlete, he has to move to another city that he didn't choose, learn a new system, meet new teammates.

That's what quarterback Malik Willis is going through . On Monday night, Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon and head coach Brian Callahan called him in a meeting room and told him he had been traded for the Green Bay Packers .

Over the following 40 hours or so, he flew to Wisconsin, passed his physical and joined the Packers' locker room. It's not exactly a comfortable situation, but Willis knows he has to make it a positive.

"They (Carthon and Callahan) said it's either positive or negative, depending on how you look at it," Willis said. "This is an opportunity where I can come and be a 2 and work my way to get better every day. I didn't wake up thinking I was gonna be traded, no sir, so it definitely caught me by surprise. It's no time to really think about it. It’s time to go."

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst explained his thought process to execute the trade.

"Malik is a guy that is in his third year, and he's really shown a lot of progression, particularly in this last preseason," Gutekunst said. "It was just an opportunity for us to add a guy who can not only make plays with his arm, but with his legs as well. Excited to get him, get him in the building, as we'll see where that goes."

Offensive learning curve

Malik Willis hasn't had continuity as a quarterback in the NFL. He played under offensive coordinator Todd Downing in 2022, then passing game coordinator Tim Kelly was promoted to OC in 2023. This year, after a staff overhaul, head coach Brian Callahan and offensive coordinator Nick Holz built a new structure.

Despite all change, Willis is relatively familiar with the Packers' offensive system. That's for two reasons. First, Downing ran some version of what Matt LaFleur installed as the Titans offensive coordinator in 2018. Also because Callahan worked under Zac Taylor with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Taylor worked alongside LaFleur with the Los Angeles Rams in 2017.

"I feel like there's definitely some crossover as far as what we were doing this year with Callahan. And even before that, what we were doing in my rookie year as far as terms and the build of it, the type of system it is," Willis mentioned. "I think I'll get more familiar with it as we go."

The Packers kept only Jordan Love and Malik Willis at quarterback on the 53-man roster , waiving both Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt. However, Clifford signed back with the team's practice squad , and the expectation is that the second-year QB can be elevated for gameday early in the season while Willis adapts to the team. Pratt was let go and has signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice squad.

Related: Backup QB problem and two other overreactions after the Packers' roster cuts