Tuesday post-practice brought some unwelcome news for the Green Bay Packers and their fans when general manager Brian Gutekunst announced Jordan Love will undergo a “minor” procedure on his left thumb. While it is good news that it’s considered a minor procedure, it’s still a procedure nonetheless and another bullet point in what is becoming a worrisome list of injuries for the Green Bay Packers’ franchise quarterback. When you have a starting quarterback piling up injuries in a two-season span (knee, groin, elbow, thumb) and you’re also a team with Super Bowl aspirations, it’s imperative you have a quality backup. Enter Malik Willis.

The value of Malik Willis isn’t new to this team or fan base. After arriving in a post-training camp trade last summer from the Titans, he quickly stole the hearts of Packers fans and showed how valuable he was when he kept the Packers afloat while Love missed two weeks with his MCL sprain. Once Love came back, Willis simply returned to his reserve role—only to be called into relief again during a harder-than-expected win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Jacksonville. Seeing how Green Bay made the playoffs as the 7th and final seed in the NFC, it’s not a stretch to say without Malik Willis, the Packers do not make the playoffs in 2024. Sean Clifford or Michael Pratt (who just got cut today by the Buccaneers) are not winning those three football games.

That’s why the news of Love’s thumb injury shouldn’t strike any fear in Packers fans at all. Not only because he is, by all accounts, expected to be back and fine for Week 1, but even if he wasn’t going to be, Willis is more than capable of keeping them competitive in his stead. Any idea of trading him at the end of the preseason should be nonexistent at this point.

One of the most talked-about topics surrounding the Packers this offseason was whether the team should consider moving Willis and selling high on him after his strong performance in 2024. If Willis balled out during this summer and a quarterback-needy team came calling with the offer of a 3rd- or 4th-round pick, would that entice Gutekunst to pull the trigger and ship off his backup, who is in the final year of his contract? Hopefully, we don’t have to find out, because I was never in the “move Willis” camp. Quarterbacks are worth their weight in gold, and if you find a competent one who has proved he can play at a high level, then it’s not worth it.

Picture a scenario: Jordan Love returns to practice next week, as suggested he will be able to. He re-aggravates his thumb injury and is forced to miss Week 1 against the Lions. Is there a single fan of the Green Bay Packers who would feel confident that Sean Clifford or Taylor Elgersma would be able to win that football game? That answer is a pretty robust “no.” In seven career preseason games where he has seen sizeable playing time, Clifford is 65-for-104 for 612 yards and two touchdowns. In one of those games last season against Denver, he was unable to lead the offense to a single point. His underperformance was the main reason the Packers traded for Willis in the first place. Elgersma, while talented, is basically starting from scratch, as the level of football he played at in college in Canada was very low. He will need at least a season on the practice squad before being looked at as a viable backup option in the NFL.

We already know that several players in the locker room feel comfortable rallying around Willis if needed. Star running back Josh Jacobs recently told ESPN.com that Willis should be a starting quarterback in this league: “If you ask me, there’s no way that this guy shouldn’t be … starting somewhere in the NFL.” That might not be as crazy of a statement as it seems on the surface. If you dropped Willis into the quarterback rooms of the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns, for example, are we sure he wouldn’t beat out the likes of Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones? Or Joe Flacco and Shedeur Sanders?

After news broke that he would be stepping back into the QB1 role for the duration of camp, the 26-year-old Willis sounded like someone who feels comfortable with that responsibility. “Just excited for the opportunity and excited to go out and have some fun, play this game,” he said post-practice on Tuesday. “It’s not about going out and doing anything crazy; it’s about making sure we stay on schedule and continue to do what we can to make plays.” The offense isn’t going to be scaled back at all with Love out for the joint practices in the next two weeks against the Colts and Seahawks, nor would it be if Willis needed to play in any regular-season action.

For the next few weeks, Willis is the man in charge. This is a team whose championship window is open now, and they cannot afford for those aspirations to go out the window if their starter needs to miss a week or two. Willis has shown he can bridge the gap, and if he leaves as expected as a free agent, the Packers will recoup a compensatory draft pick for the 2027 NFL Draft. He has proven just too valuable for the Packers to consider moving at any point in 2025.