Last season, as part of the 53-man roster cuts, the Tennessee Titans traded quarterback Malik Willis to the Green Bay Packers for a seventh-round draft pick. The Titans couldn't keep three quarterbacks and while Brian Callahan admits that Willis competed well with Mason Rudolph, they couldn't turn down the opportunity for an extra draft pick.
What happened next was a surprise to everyone. Willis showed potential with the Titans but never saw any real success. Behind their shaky offensive line, it's no wonder. So when Willis was called upon to take over for an injured Jordan Love in 2024, the way he showed up and successfully led the Packers to wins in five out of the seven games he played. Callahan was recently asked about Willis' success in Green Bay.
Asked Titans coach Brian Callahan if he saw coming what Malik Willis did for the Packers last season (and if he had, would they have kept him instead of trading him to Green Bay for seventh-round pick?) pic.twitter.com/5XPXbbfgUq
— Rob Demovsky (@RobDemovsky) March 31, 2025
"I think we saw a lot of improvement in Malik over the course of last offseason," Callahan says. "If you were looking at just from where he started to where he finished, I thought he might have been one of the most improved players on the offense just in our short time that he was there.
"I liked what he was doing, I liked how he was playing, we just had an opportunity to get a pick for a player at the cut-down. He competed well, I think it was a good competition between him and Mason Rudolph, and I'm really happy for Malik. Malik's a fantastic person, I was fired up to see him have some success. I don't know that I could sit here and tell you I saw that coming, I think he's a good fit up there in Green Bay and I think he did a nice job with them. So, yeah, I saw the improvement and I'm happy that he played well."
Titans currently have three quarterbacks on their roster. All signs point to the organization selecting Cam Ward with the number-one overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, too, so decisions will have to be made again. One guy who's not an option, though? Malik Willis. And that's a tough pill to swallow.
This article originally appeared on Titans Wire: Titans' Brian Callahan 'happy' Malik Willis saw success in Green Bay
