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The Green Bay Packers announced on Tuesday that the team has released backup quarterback Clayton Tune, who had -7 net passing yards against the Minnesota Vikings in a Week 18 regular-season finale that almost exclusively saw the Packers’ backup players receive playing time. Earlier on Tuesday, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur admitted that starting quarterback Jordan Love, who didn’t play a snap in the game, received a “normal” amount of snaps throughout the week of prep for the Vikings, so it appears that Tune went into that game relatively cold. Love, who served as the team’s backup against Minnesota because backup quarterback Malik Willis (shoulder/hamstring) was out with an injury, was going to hand the ball off every single play had he been forced into action, according to LaFleur.
Instead of Tune, it looks like Green Bay’s emergency third quarterback for the playoffs will be Desmond Ridder, who was signed to the team’s practice squad last week. Today, the Packers promoted him to the 53-man roster.
Interestingly, Ridder was on the street and therefore has been available for the Packers during three different periods this year:
At any of those points, Green Bay could have dumped Tune in favor of Ridder, but the team chose to ride out the Tune train. As a reminder, Tune was in training camp for the Cincinnati Bengals, so at the start of the season, the Packers could have simply chosen to bring in Ridder, a 26-year-old former third-round pick, over Tune as their practice squad quarterback, but elected to go the Tune route.
For what it’s worth, LaFleur said that Willis is expected to play this week, so Ridder will likely not be active on gameday, despite being on the 53-man roster. Ridder can potentially enter the game, though, as the NFL has a third quarterback rule, which states that an inactive member (not on the gameday 48) of the 53-man roster can play if two quarterbacks are pulled and do not return to action for the remainder of the game. Previously, LaFleur has said that running back Josh Jacobs and receiver Jayden Reed are the team’s emergency quarterbacks, if it comes down to a fourth option under center this week.
Beyond the 53-man roster changes, the Packers also brought back receiver Julian Hicks and tight end Messiah Swinson to the practice squad. Hicks was brought in as an undrafted free agent for Green Bay this year and was released at the cutdown deadline this summer. Swinson was a 2024 undrafted free agent who got his start with the Packers, but was poached by the Carolina Panthers during the 2024 regular season from Green Bay’s practice squad and has since had stints with the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals’ practice squads. Swinson was just released by the Cardinals on December 30th.
There might be a real chance that Swinson, a blocking tight end, plays on...
