Tuesday and Wednesday brought on a wave of transactions around the NFL. One of the most exciting days on the NFL calendar for fans saw all 32 franchises whittled down their 90-man offseason rosters to 53-player active rosters, followed by the formation of a 17-player practice squad. Most of the Packers’ moves over the last two days didn’t come as much of a surprise to me. One of the biggest roster decisions that general manager Brian Gutekunst had to make was which third quarterback to carry on the practice squad. Would it be former fifth-round pick Sean Clifford, who spent two full seasons in the organization running Matt LaFleur’s offense? Or would it be undrafted Canadian rookie Taylor Elgersma? The decision — correctly — was neither.

We knew all offseason that the Packers were not going to carry three quarterbacks on the active roster. Most teams today cannot afford to keep more than two. With quality depth needed up and down the roster at positions like the offensive and defensive lines, roster construction usually calls for that third quarterback to land on the practice squad. Refreshed practice squad rules from a few seasons ago make it much simpler for a team to call up a quarterback for a game if needed. So it was certainly not surprising that Jordan Love and Malik Willis were the only signal-callers not cut on Tuesday.

Neither Clifford nor Elgersma did nearly enough to warrant the opportunity to return to Green Bay on the practice squad. Both had glaring flaws that got exposed when they were on the field, and the more they played, the more it became apparent that the Packers needed to move on. Elgersma lacked the experience required to play in the NFL. Coming from the Canadian college football system, he never looked comfortable playing quarterback the way it is meant to be played at the NFL level. Timid and shy in the pocket are not traits successful quarterbacks possess, and while he has the arm talent to eventually get a shot somewhere else across the league, the idea of him being two snaps away from playing in a real game is extremely frightening.

What Elgersma lacked in athleticism, Clifford didn’t. The more experienced of the two in the NFL — and certainly more experienced in the system — he just never developed the way Green Bay envisioned when they selected him 149th overall out of Penn State in the 2023 draft. The former All-Big Ten honorable mention had very mixed results in his third preseason this year. While he did lead the team on the game-winning drive in Week 2 against Indianapolis, he only completed one pass and mostly used his legs. He simply doesn’t possess the arm talent to be a consistently effective quarterback in the NFL — a big reason why the consensus was that Green Bay overdrafted him in 2023. If the Packers could have paired Elgersma’s arm with Clifford’s athleticism, they would have had the perfect developmental quarterback.

Earlier this summer Matt Lafleur made it clear what he was looking for in a 3rd quarterback. "Somebody who can command the offense, and want somebody that you can develop into, hopefully a guy that can play for you someday". 

Clearly that wasn't Clifford or Elgersma, so enter Clayton Tune.

Per Bill Huber of Sports Illustrated, the Packers are signing former Arizona Cardinals backup quarterback Clayton Tune to be their third quarterback on the practice squad. Tune, an elite athlete, brings with him a ton of college experience to Green Bay. The 6-2, 220-pounder ran a 4.64 40-yard dash at the combine, and his overall testing numbers placed him in the 98th percentile for the position. Interestingly, he was taken 10 spots ahead of Clifford in the 2023 draft when the Cardinals selected him 139th overall. Tune comes to Green Bay possessing much more experience and upside than either Clifford or Elgersma. While his numbers are far from eye-popping over his two NFL seasons to date, he has appeared in 13 games, one of which he started. In those games, he completed 14 of 23 passes for 70 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. His lone start came during his rookie season against the Cleveland Browns, when he completed 11 of 20 passes for 58 yards and two picks while taking seven sacks and losing a fumble in a 27-0 blowout loss.

He did fare much better this preseason compared to Clifford and Elgersma. He completed 30 of 49 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and one interception, good for a 61.2% completion rate. If you dig a little deeper into the stats, there’s more than meets the eye. Turning drops into completions, he would have posted a 78.6% completion rate, per Pro Football Focus. He also showed off his athleticism by adding 53 rushing yards on nine carries. His career preseason numbers are solid: between the 2023 and 2025 preseasons, he completed 99 of 160 passes for 900 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. I would chalk him losing his backup job up more to Arizona signing veteran Jacoby Brissett — who brings with him a wealth of starting experience — than to Tune’s performance.

It might not be a huge deal — the signing of a third-string practice squad quarterback and the ousting of incumbents — but consider the fact that current backup Malik Willis is entering the final year of his rookie contract and will likely look for a place where he can compete for a starting job next offseason. One would think Tune will have the upper hand at that role if all goes well this season on the practice squad. With Jordan Love’s recent injury history, there’s also a small chance Tune might see the field sooner than anyone would like. Either way, Green Bay made the right call in moving on from Clifford and Elgersma and bringing in a new face in Clayton Tune.