BREAKING NEWS: Two years after his $14.5 million game, the official Packers quarterback has returned to the team.
Quarterback Matt Flynn is back with the Packers, less than two years after he left for a $26 million deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
It’s his fourth team since departing the Packers in March 2012 and his third in the last seven months.
It is a wise approach on both fronts. With Seneca Wallace, the backup quarterback, and Aaron Rodgers both sidelined, the Packers need quarterback depth. Furthermore, Flynn requires a team after being released by Buffalo and Oakland in the previous five weeks.
Among all professional athletes, Flynn’s career trajectory is among the most peculiar. In 2008, he was selected in the seventh round with the specific intention of serving as Aaron Rodgers’ backup. He played that position for three years, seeing action only in the closing minutes of blowouts or in the rare moments when Rodgers was hurt.
Nonetheless, a 14-1 Packers team rested every starter in the season finale. It was only Flynn’s second career start at quarterback, and he went on to have the best throwing game in team history.
He completed 31 of 44 passes for 480 yards and six touchdowns. He had five35 career throwing yards and three touchdown passes going into the contest.
He was a very sought-after free agent after that one excellent game. After agreeing to a lucrative contract with the Seahawks, his career has taken a turn for the worse.
Russell Wilson, a rookie, assumed the starting position in Seattle in 2012. In his three backup appearances, he attempted nine passes at the end of the season.
After being traded to the Oakland Raiders in April 2013, second-year quarterback Terrelle Pryor replaced him as the team’s starting quarterback. He was benched last month following his lone Oakland start—a defeat to Washington.
The Buffalo Bills, who were decimated by injuries, then signed him. However, he was also cut there after failing to edge out Jeff Tuel, a third-stringer, for the starting position.
He is now back in Green Bay supporting Scott Tolzien, the exact position he held before to that one game that set him on an NFL tour de force.
Not everything is horrible for Flynn. Of the $26 million, he ultimately made $14.5 million with the Seahawks. That’s a lot, lot more than he would have made in 2012 had he not had that momentous game.
Given that the NFL rarely pays guaranteed salaries, particularly to backup players, Flynn’s performance makes him one of the strangest tales of success in the league.
