While the Green Bay Packers would have loved to have Malik Willis back on the roster to back up Jordan Love, that was never going to happen.
And on Monday, with the legal tampering period for unrestricted free agents officially opened, his departure was made official, as it was reported that the 26-year-old has signed on to become the new starting quarterback of the Miami Dolphins, who informed Tua Tagovailoa early Monday morning that he'll be officially released at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
Willis didn't get quite as much money as some were projecting, but a three-year, $67.5 million deal with $45 million in guaranteed money certainly isn't too shabby for someone with just six NFL starts to his name. New Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and head coach Jeff Hafley, of course, came from Green Bay, so both liked what they saw from Willis during his two-year run with the Packers.
Losing Willis naturally hurts the Packers, as he was viewed as one of the stronger backup QBs in the entire league. But there is a positive to his departure, as Green Bay should receive a solid compensatory selection in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Malik Willis' departure could lead to an extra third-round pick for the Packers in the 2027 NFL Draft
For those unfamiliar with how compensatory picks in the NFL draft are awarded, the main factor in receiving any is that a team must lose more qualifying free agents than it gains. And with the Packers not expected to go on any big spending spree this year, they should be fine.
Assuming a team is on the right side of things in that initial regard, the biggest factor in the compensatory pick formula is the average annual value of a player's contract, which for Willis is $22.5 million per season. Plenty of free agents will obviously be making more than that, but it's still a solid figure.
From there, the second-biggest factor is playing time, with a player needing to take at least 25 percent of the snaps on their side of the football to qualify. As Willis is expected to be the Dolphins' starter with Tua out of the picture, that shouldn't be a problem unless he suffers a serious injury.
Points are also awarded if a player ends up earning certain honors, such as Associated Press All-Pro or Pro Football Writers of America awards. And if Willis can play like he did in his limited action with the Packers, you just never know, right?
Once all these things are taken into account, players are assigned a value, with the top five percent yielding third-round compensatory picks, down to seventh-rounders for lower-ranked players. As such, conceivably, the Packers could very easily be awarded an extra third-round pick in next year's draft to compensate for Willis' departure, which would obviously be a great thing.
And the fact that they only gave up a seventh-rounder to acquire him from the Tennessee Titans only makes that deal look that much better, given everything he gave the Packers over the last two years and what he could possibly give them in the future.