When the Tennessee Titans selected Malik Willis in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, there was some thought that he could be the next star quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. Unfortunately, that did not work out. He got some playing time during his rookie season, which was uneven at best. The Titans drafted Will Levis in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he eventually lost a couple of competitions for the backup and starting jobs in 2023 and 2024 before being traded to the Green Bay Packers for a 2025 seventh-round pick. And just like that, Willis ended up in the best possible situation for his career. Willis has been great for the Packers as a backup and spot-starter and his latest game versus the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 showed his growth. Willis was 18/21 for one touchdown and ran for two touchdowns and 60 yards before exiting the game with a shoulder injury. The tape he has put out there has some analysts thinking he could be a starter for some NFL teams next year, given his pending free agency. And in the AFC South, there is one team that could use his services.
Malik Willis 18/21, 348 Total YDS, 3 TDs, 0 INT vs BAL Tonight.Pic.twitter.com/Ttzxj7qCzc https://t.co/RIJ6kozcew
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) December 28, 2025
The Indianapolis Colts will have an interesting quarterback room going into the 2026 offseason. Daniel Jones will be a free agent coming off an Achilles tear, Philip Rivers will more than likely retire again, Anthony Richardson is still trying to get healthy and progress, and rookie Riley Leonard is someone the Colts are interested in. The prevailing thought is that the Colts will bring Jones in on a short-term deal to their quarterback room, and he could be the starter when he is ready. But let’s say he is not ready, or the Colts want to go in a different direction while getting younger. If that is the case, then Willis may be their guy.
Despite being injured, Jones will probably command more money due to the numbers he put up with the Colts this past season when healthy. But with Willis, he will more than likely have a lower salary than Jones. With a team that’s projected to have $53.9 million in salary cap space this offseason and pending free agents like wide receiver Austin Pierce, among other decisions to be made, having Willis would not be that bad a choice. It would allow you to spread more money around to cure a few other ills of the Colts football team.
Along with just the fit from a financial viewpoint, the Colts and Willis fit from a play standpoint, too. Willis has shown an adept touch on the deep passes, laying it right in there to his receivers in stride and allowing them to make the play and then some. That type of deep-ball accuracy would be huge for the Colts offense because, while they like to run the football, they can also hit you with intermediate to deep shots. Having a quarterback who is accurate with those types of throws helps. Along with Malik’s propensity to throw great deep passes, he is also good with his feet. Whether it is scrambling to throw or full-on running, Malik has a grasp of maneuvering the pocket and being dangerous with his feet when he decides to leave it. Daniel Jones was dangerous when he did that with the Colts offense in 2025 and Willis could do some of the same things for the Colts’ offense.
Willis’s story of going from an afterthought at quarterback to a valuable backup and potential starter shows his level of hard work, along with taking advantage of his opportunity in Green Bay. And as a result, Green Bay not only has a tough decision, but Willis does as well about where he plays football next season. The Packers would be wise to try to bring him back as Jordan Love’s backup. But if he leaves Green Bay, Indianapolis should give his representation a call. He gives them a quarterback who, although he may be shorter than Daniel Jones, is younger (Jones is 28 and Malik Willis is 26) and has less injury history than Jones.