Getty Brett Hundley #7 of the Green Bay Packers throws the ball during the second quarter of the game against the Minnesota Vikings on October 15, 2017 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A former Green Bay Packers quarterback could soon be back in the NFC North with the Minnesota Vikings hosting veteran Brett Hundley for a roster tryout at this weekend’s rookie minicamp.
Hundley was a 2015 fifth-round pick for the Packers who played in 15 career games for the Packers over his three seasons, including nine games as their starter in 2017 after Aaron Rodgers went down with a broken collarbone. He completed 59.5% of his passes (194 of 326) and threw for 1,853 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions before the Packers moved on from him during the 2018 offseason.
Hundley has also spent time with the Seattle Seahawks — who traded a 2019 sixth-round pick to get him from the Packers in 2018 — as well as the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts. He has only played in three games since leaving Green Bay and made all of them as a relief player in decided games for the Cardinals in 2019.
The Vikings currently have veteran Kirk Cousins locked in as their starting quarterback for 2022, but the backup job behind him is still up for grabs with Kellen Mond (a 2021 third-round pick), Sean Mannion and Nate Stanley (2020 seventh-round pick) currently vying for the role. Minnesota also hosted a rookie quarterback — Patrick O’Brien out of Washington — for a tryout alongside Hundley.
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Vikings’ New HC is Familiar With Hundley
In terms of Hundley finding a potential fit in Minnesota, it could help that he has some history with new Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell from when he was coming out of the 2015 NFL draft. Back then, O’Connell had just been hired to his first coaching post as the quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns and had “spent a lot of time” with Hundley, as he recently told Vikings media ahead of their rookie minicamp.
“I’ve always been intrigued by him as a quarterback in this league,” O’Connell said during his May 13 press conference. “He’s kind of bounced around, been in some spots, been coached up well, you can tell in the meeting room.”
All three of the Vikings’ current backups are guys leftover from the previous regime, so it would make sense if O’Connell wants to populate his quarterback room with players better suited for his system or that he has personally scouted. Hundley was in the same draft class as Mannion and has started in three times as many games as his him, while his experience also puts him well above the unpolished duo of Mond and Stanley.
Even if Hundley is only signed as a fifth quarterback for the room to compete during training camp, it would still give him a decent chance at earning a roster spot in 2022.
Packers Expected to Stay Course at QB
In the middle of May, there might not be an easier position on the Packers’ roster to predict than quarterback. Aaron Rodgers will once again be their starter after signing a new contract extension with the team back in March, while Jordan Love (QB2) and Kurt Benkert (QB3) are also still on the roster and expected to reprise their roles in 2022.
The only spot where there could be some shakeup is the third quarterback spot. Benkert is heading into his second offseason with the Packers and has the advantage of knowing the system over any challenge he might face for his job, but Danny Etling is also on the roster and looking to prove he can stick around this time. Etling had a few brief stints on the Packers’ offseason and practice-squad rosters in 2021 as their fourth-stringer and was re-signed in January to compete for a role once again in 2022; however, the third-string job appears to still be Benkert’s to lose.