FIXED
January 25, 2026
NFL · 2026 Free Agency

The NFL Broke Him
Green Bay Fixed Him

In the same number of games, Malik Willis went from zero touchdowns to six. From three interceptions to zero. From quarterback chaos to the most improved arm in the league. The question is who notices before it is too late.

Career games
22
Same sample size in Tennessee and Green Bay.
INTs in GB
0
Across 89 attempts. The panic that defined his first stint is gone.
Yards / Completion
13.9
Has the arm talent to hurt defenses past the first down marker.
Rush 1st downs
15
His legs still work. They are just a weapon now instead of an escape hatch.
+25.7%

Completion percentage.
Same number of games.

Tennessee handed Willis a no-win offense built for Derrick Henry and buried him. Green Bay gave him two seasons of structure behind Jordan Love. He fixed the exact two things that derailed his career. The question is whether any team in this league noticed.

The Setup

Tennessee
Buried Him.

Ryan Tannehill goes down. Tennessee's response: throw a rookie into an offense built entirely around Derrick Henry's ground game. Every defense in the league stacked the box. Willis' legs showed everything: 144 rushing yards, flashes of something special.

But four fumbles told the real story. A quarterback scrambling before he could read defenses. A scheme that gave him nothing to work with and then judged him for it. Eleven games. 350 passing yards. Zero touchdowns. Three picks. That is not a quarterback failing. That is an organization failing a quarterback.

The league wrote him off. Tennessee moved on. Nobody asked the obvious question: what happens if you actually develop him?

The Rebuild

Green Bay
Built Him Back.

Two seasons behind Jordan Love, two seasons watching an NFL offense actually function. The completion jump tells part of the story. Zero interceptions across 89 attempts tells the rest.

He stopped second-guessing reads. He started taking what defenses gave him. His legs, once pure chaos, became a setup for throws. Defenses that sent a blitz at rookie Willis got a desperate scramble or a heave. The same blitz against Green Bay Willis got stood up behind the line reading the coverage and finding the open man.

13.9 yards per completion. 15 rushing first downs. Three rushing touchdowns. Fumbles cut in half. These are not flukes. These are transferable skills.

Send a blitz at rookie Malik Willis and he scrambled backwards into a sack or desperation heave. Send a blitz at him now and he stands his ground and executes the play call.

TEN2022 to 23 · Thrown in unprepared
Completion %
53.0%
Passing Yards
350
Passing TDs
0
Interceptions
3
Yds / Completion
10.0
Fumbles
4
Rush 1st Downs
—
GB2024 to 25 · Structured development
Completion %
78.7%
+25.7 pts
Passing Yards
972
+622 yds
Passing TDs
6
+6
Interceptions
0
−3
Yds / Completion
13.9
+3.9 yds
Fumbles
2
−2
Rush 1st Downs
15
What's Left

One Real
Risk Remains.

Six fumbles across 22 career games. Willis runs like Cam Newton and Josh Allen but Newton was 6'5" and 245 lbs. Allen is 6'5" and 237. Willis is 6'1" and 225. He absorbs the same contact with considerably less frame. He still tries to break tackles instead of slide. The fumble risk is real and it will not disappear.

His second question mark is volume passing, a product of limited starting reps and not arm talent. The fix is simple: build the scheme around it. YAC weapons. A versatile pass-catching back who demands defensive attention. Occasional deep shots to build confidence. The league has the blueprint. Hurts had it. Goff had it. Darnold had it. Willis just needs a team willing to use it.

The Market

Seven Teams.
Two Real Options.

MIANo cap space
MINNo cap space
CLENo cap space
CARYoung extension pending
ARIMurray + Brissett, limited flex
PITReal option
NYJBest fit
Real option
Pittsburgh

Better offensive line than New York. DK Metcalf is the kind of contested-catch threat Willis can hit on play-action. But Mike McCarthy's pass-heavy scheme exposes the one weakness Willis still has and there are not enough receiving weapons to paper over it. The system works against him.

✓ Elite offensive line ✓ Metcalf upside ✗ McCarthy scheme over-exposes volume passing weakness ✗ No established run game identity
Best fit available
New York Jets

Garrett Wilson has hit 1,000 yards in all four seasons with backup quarterbacks. Breece Hall commands defensive attention that Pittsburgh's backs do not. Aaron Glenn served as Detroit's defensive coordinator during the Goff rebuild. He has seen the blueprint from the inside. He valued dual-threat QBs this offseason when signing Tyrod Taylor and Justin Fields. He knows exactly what Willis is.

✓ Glenn watched the Goff blueprint work ✓ Wilson is a proven YAC weapon ✓ Hall commands defensive attention ✓ Draft capital to fix the line ✗ O-line still needs real work
The Right
System
Wins.
Always.

Willis fixed the two things that ended his career. Zero interceptions. Plus 25 completion points. That is not regression to the mean. That is development working exactly as intended.

He is not the next Jalen Hurts. He is the next test case for whether NFL teams actually learned what made Hurts, Goff, Mayfield, and Darnold work.

The Jets have the weapons. The scheme. A coach who saw the blueprint up close. The only question is whether they act before someone else does.