Super Bowl Winning Journeyman Finds New Home in Green Bay

On May 4th, it was announced via Tom Pelissero that the Green Bay Packers have agreed to terms with QB Tyrod Taylor. The Super Bowl winning journeyman has bounced around the league, acting as a borderline starter but a formidable backup QB. He will be 37 around the beginning of the 2026 preseason, but still has plenty left in the tank for the Packers. Taylor will join seven-year head coach Matt LaFleur in bringing the Packers back to the playoffs backing up the formidable Jordan Love.

2011-2014

Drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft out of Virginia Tech, Taylor was set to back up the playoff-proven QB Joe Flacco. Flacco started every game in Taylor’s four-year rookie deal, limiting the Super Bowl winning journeyman to 14 appearances in four years. Taylor would get his first real in-game snaps in a meaningless Week 17 game against the Bengals, completing 60% of his passes for 149 yards and an interception, adding three rushes for 39 yards on the ground. He would go on to win Super Bowl XLVII as a backup to Flacco, who later signed a large extension with the Ravens.

2015-2017

Taylor would test free agency and sign a three-year deal worth just over three million dollars with the Buffalo Bills. The Super Bowl winning journeyman beat out 2013 first-round pick EJ Manuel and veteran Matt Cassel for the starting job. Taylor would only miss six games over the next three years, starting 43 of 44 games in which he suited up. Mostly due to the struggles everywhere else in Buffalo’s roster, He never had more than eight wins in a single season with the Bills, finishing with a 22-20 record. The soon-to-be 37-year-old finished his tenure in Buffalo with one Pro Bowl nomination in 2015, 8,857 yards, 51 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions, adding almost 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

2018

Taylor would then be traded to Cleveland before the 2018 season for a third-round pick, but Cleveland held the first overall pick, which was used to draft Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield. He earned the starting job in Cleveland, but was injured in Week Three, leaving Mayfield to take over. Mayfield would end up winning the game, putting Cleveland in the win column for the first time since 2016 and starting each game for the rest of the season. Although Baker won the Browns that game, the Super Bowl winning journeyman statistically was given the win, leaving Cleveland that offseason with a 1-1-1 record.

2019-2025

Taylor would not start a game in 2019 with the Chargers, but earned the starting job in 2020 over rookie first-round pick Justin Herbert. The soon-to-be 37-year-old then suffered a punctured lung at the hands of a team doctor, giving Herbert the reins. He then went to Houston to start on a one-year deal, amid the legal troubles from star QB Deshaun Watson. Taylor went on IR after their Week Two game, returning in Week Nine, but was benched in Week 13 for Davis Mills. In 2022, Taylor continued his career with the Giants, starting five of his 14 appearances in two years. The Super Bowl winning journeyman, who was not the starter, came in to replace an injured Daniel Jones multiple times, repeatedly got injured himself, which sparked the Tommy DeVito trend in New York. When his contract with the New York Giants expired, he stayed in East Rutherford to back up future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers for the Jets. Taylor would make two garbage time appearances in 2024 and was kept on the roster in 2025 to back up new Jets’ QB Justin Fields. Fields and Taylor, by no fault of their own, took turns getting hurt or benched, but much of the struggles could be attributed to the Jets inadvertently trying to lose games.

2026

Taylor’s prime years may be behind him, but excluding his time in Buffalo, he has recorded a 7-11-1 starting QB record, which is considerably better than some backup QBs in the NFL. The soon-to-be 37-year-old has experienced good teams and bad teams. He has been on a Super Bowl-winning roster and helped a handful of young stars be the best version of themselves. Now with the Packers, Taylor will prepare for his 16th year in the NFL, ready to step up if required, in search of his second Super Bowl ring.