Should the Packers bring back Tim Boyle as backup QB in 2021?

The Green Bay Packers were quick to dismiss talk of Aaron Rodgers being traded this offseason, but there is some uncertainty when it comes to the backup quarterback position.

Tim Boyle remained Green Bay’s No. 2 throughout the year, occasionally entering games late on to either take a knee or hand the ball off but he didn’t attempt a pass.

Rookie Jordan Love, meanwhile, was inactive for each of the Packers’ games in 2020.

Will that still be the case next season?

Here’s the difficult position the Packers find themselves in. While they might prefer to keep Boyle around and let Love develop, the former is a restricted free agent this spring. In a year with a reduced salary cap and Green Bay limited in space, affording to bring back a backup QB on an RFA tender won’t be easy to do.

Over The Cap projects the cheapest RFA tender to have a cap hit of $2.13 million in 2021. Given how little room the Packers have to work with, could they afford to pay that money on the cap for a player they hope never sees the field?

Especially a year on from drafting a QB in the first round.

Perhaps the Packers will bring back Boyle with the hope of being able to trade him in the summer.

But at some point, Love needs to be the backup quarterback. Love’s cap hit will be just under $3 million next season, according to Over The Cap, so adding on a small cap hit for Boyle might prove difficult. Bear in mind that Boyle’s cap hit was only $752,000 this past season.

Maybe the Packers will instead offer Boyle a two-year contract that works out with a lower cap hit in 2021.

But, again, every bit of cap room the team can save will be valuable this offseason.

Is 2021 the time for Love to be the backup quarterback to Rodgers, ready to enter the game at any point? Whether he’s ready or not, the salary cap situation might give the Packers no choice.