{"id":851091,"date":"2026-04-03T10:37:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851091\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T10:37:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:37:05","slug":"what-should-the-packers-do-at-backup-quarterback-pete-dougherty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851091\/","title":{"rendered":"What should the Packers do at backup quarterback? | Pete Dougherty"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY \u2212\u00a0Green Bay Press-Gazette<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0PackersNews<\/a>\u00a0columnist Pete Dougherty<\/a>\u00a0responds to reader questions on the hot topics of the\u00a0Green Bay Packers<\/a>‘ offseason.<\/p>\n

We pulled a question from a recent mailbag on what the Packers<\/a> should do at No. 2 quarterback.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

With backup quarterback suddenly becoming an important need, in which direction do you think the Packers will go? Is a seasoned veteran like Joe Flacco\u00a0an option\u00a0or a young talent like Anthony Richardson looking to reinvent himself? Or do we target a middle- or late-round draft pick?<\/p>\n

Pete Dougherty: Richardson is\u00a0really interesting\u00a0because of his talent, but his $5.3M salary would put me off.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0on\u00a0the last year of his\u00a0rookie\u00a0contract, so\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0a lot of money for a guy who may or may not\u00a0prove to\u00a0be\u00a0a viable\u00a0backup.\u00a0I\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0give up more than a seventh-round draft pick for him.<\/p>\n

Flacco is 41 and just signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Who will Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers face in 2026? Their opponents were revealed last month at the end of the 2025 regular season<\/a>. The times and dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in early May.<\/p>\n

Some observations: They’ll face six teams that made the playoffs in 2025, including at the AFC champion New England Patriots. The Packers match up with all the AFC East and NFC South teams in 2026. Green Bay will also face three teams with new head coaches, including former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is with the Miami Dolphins. <\/p>\n

And Green Bay’s defense better be ready as it will meet the top six offenses from 2025.<\/p>\n

Green Bay has nine home games and eight road games. <\/p>\n

Scroll this gallery for all the teams on the Packers’ 2026 schedule, starting with the home games and the non-divisional games.<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Who will Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers face in 2026? Their opponents were revealed last month at the end of the 2025 regular season<\/a>. The times and dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in early May.<\/p>\n

Some observations: They’ll face six teams that made the playoffs in 2025, including at the AFC champion New England Patriots. The Packers match up with all the AFC East and NFC South teams in 2026. Green Bay will also face three teams with new head coaches, including former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is with the Miami Dolphins. <\/p>\n

And Green Bay’s defense better be ready as it will meet the top six offenses from 2025.<\/p>\n

Green Bay has nine home games and eight road games. <\/p>\n

Scroll this gallery for all the teams on the Packers’ 2026 schedule, starting with the home games and the non-divisional games.<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills: Quarterback Josh Allen will make his first appearance at Lambeau Field since his rookie season in 2018. The Bills had the fourth-ranked offense in 2025. They are one of 10 teams this offseason that has a new head coach.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 12-5<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins: Former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will return to Lambeau Field in his first year as the Dolphins head coach.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 7-10<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys: Quarterback Dak Prescott will bring an explosive Cowboys offense (second ranked in 2025) to Lambeau Field for the first time since the 2022 season. The two teams played to a 40-40 tie during the 2025 season in Dallas.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 7-9-1<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers: For the second straight season, the Panthers will come to Lambeau Field. The Packers will look to avenge that 16-13 loss to Carolina.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 8-9<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Atlanta Falcons: New coach Kevin Stefanski will bring his Falcons to Lambeau Field.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 8-9<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Houston Texans: Azeez al-Shaair and last season’s No. 1-ranked defense will look to rattle Jordan Love and the Packers offense when they make their second appearance to Lambeau Field in three years.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 12-5<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

New England Patriots: The Packers will head to New England to face Drake Maye and the reigning AFC champion Patriots. Green Bay last played the Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in 2018. The Patriots had the third-ranked offense in 2025.
2025 record: 14-3<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints: The Packers will face quarterback Tyler Shough and the Saints on the road. Its the first time the Packers will play inside the Caesars Superdome since the 2020 season.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 6-11<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Rams: The Packers travel to the site of Super Bowl 61 for a matchup against Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and the Rams, who had the NFL’s top-ranked offense. It will be the fifth time in six years the Packers and Rams will play in the regular season.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 12-5<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Packers head to Florida for a matchup against Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. <\/p>\n

2025 record: 8-9<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

New York Jets: The Packers will face Garrett Wilson (5) and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, for the first time since the 2018 season.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 3-14<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears (2): This rivalry is alive. After the teams split the regular-season series with heartstopping finishes and then a wild-card playoff game that featured a massive comeback by the Bears, what will the 2026 season bring us between these two longtime rivals? <\/p>\n

Last season, the two teams had to wait until December for their first game. And then they ended up playing each other three times from Dec. 7 to Jan. 10.<\/p>\n

2025 record: 11-6<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Detroit Lions (2): The Packers will look for another 2-0 season against the Lions. The Packers opened last season with a win over the Lions at Lambeau Field and then beat them on Thanksgiving at Ford Field for a second time in three years. <\/p>\n

2025 record: 9-8<\/p>\n

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Green Bay Packers’ 2026 opponents: Top offenses, new coaches<\/p>\n

Minnesota Vikings (2): The Packers will again have to contend with Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson for two games. The teams split the 2025 series.<\/p>\n

Vikings record: 9-8<\/p>\n

There\u2019s\u00a0Jimmy Garoppolo, who\u00a0is a free agent and made $4.5M last season as the Rams\u2019 No. 2. He also turns 35 in November and is in physical decline.\u00a0But he has to at least be a possibility.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t\u00a0think\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0touch Russell Wilson. Would consider Tyrod\u00a0Taylor,\u00a0who is not likely to be expensive.<\/p>\n

I have my doubts that Desmond Ridder will be the Packers\u2019 No. 2 when the season starts. He\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0even on a practice squad when the Packers signed him late last season, so that\u2019s a big red flag\u00a0to\u00a0me.\u00a0Gutekunst\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0said anything this offseason to suggest he\u2019s particularly high on Ridder.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0a pretty good\u00a0bet Gutekunst drafts a quarterback in the later rounds.\u00a0But I wonder if one of those\u00a0aforementioned QBs\u00a0will end up being their No. 2 this season.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Packers News: What should the Packers do at backup quarterback? | Pete Dougherty<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY \u2212\u00a0Green Bay Press-Gazette\u00a0and\u00a0PackersNews\u00a0columnist Pete Dougherty\u00a0responds to reader questions on the hot topics of the\u00a0Green Bay Packers‘…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[1504,256,10206,7,41,345,48003,2514,2513,7841,562,6,428,48002,424,572,11863],"class_list":{"0":"post-851091","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-anthony-richardson","9":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","10":"tag-desmond-ridder","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-green-bay","13":"tag-green-bay-packers","14":"tag-green-bay-press-gazette","15":"tag-greenbay","16":"tag-greenbaypackers","17":"tag-jimmy-garoppolo","18":"tag-joe-flacco","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-packers","21":"tag-pete-dougherty","22":"tag-rams","23":"tag-russell-wilson","24":"tag-tyrod-taylor"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}