1 hour ago
1
The new look United Football League, after relocating half of its teams for the 2026 season, has begun its player distribution phase to fill out spring league rosters. On Monday, the league announced team selections in the quarterback draft. In total, 21 were taken by eight teams, with some clubs taking three and some clubs selecting two at the position. Of the 21, 4 of them have ties with the Green Bay Packers.
Clayton Tune, who just started for the Packers in their anti-football regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 18, was taken by the Columbus Aviators. Tune signed with Green Bay’s practice squad after the roster cutdown deadline this summer and was a member of the practice squad throughout the regular season up until Week 18. Against the Vikings, Tune had -7 net passing yards after taking 41 yards of sacks.
Advertisement
After that game, Tune was released from the 53-man roster, and Desmond Ridder, a former fourth-round pick who had signed with the Packers’ practice squad in Week 18, served as the team’s third quarterback in the postseason.
The Aviators also picked Jalen Morton, who you probably don’t remember (because I don’t remember him). Morton’s first stop in the NFL was with the Packers after he went undrafted coming out of Prairie View A&M in 2020. He made it until August 3rd of that year, two weeks before the start of training camp.
Since then, Morton has had cups of coffee with the Indianapolis Colts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats (CFL), Birmingham Stallions (formerly USFL, now UFL), Southwest Kansas Storm (Champions Indoor Football) and Houston Roughnecks (UFL). Outside of his time playing arena football with the Storm, he’s thrown six passes for two completions, 13 yards and an interception with the Tiger-Cats in his pro football career.
Tune and Morton will compete with Jalen McClendon, who has previously played four years in spring leagues (XFL and UFL) and made 10 career starts.
Advertisement
Taylor Elgersma, an undrafted rookie signing by the Packers in 2025, was also picked up by the Birmingham Stallions. Green Bay had Elgersma work out with the team during rookie minicamp and eventually signed him to a deal, making him the first USports (Canada) product to get a crack in the NFL in nearly 40 years. Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t make his way to the CFL, where his value as a ratio breaker (only so many non-Canadians can be on the field at one time) makes him unique.
Elgersma went 16 of 23 for 166 yards and a touchdown in the 2025 preseason. Eventually, both he and Sean Clifford were both released, making room for Tune to join the Packers as their practice squad quarterback for the season.
He will compete with Matt Corral, the former NFL third-round pick who has gone 5-0 with the Stallions as a starter, and Jaren Hall, a 2023 NFL fifth-round pick, for the starting job in Birmingham.
Speaking of guys who never made it to the practice squad, the St. Louis Battlehawks drafted Michael Pratt, who was a Packers’ 2024 seventh-round pick. Pratt was brought in to compete with Clifford for the backup quarterback job behind Jordan Love. After being unimpressed with either’s preseason performance, general manager Brian Gutekunst traded a 2025 seventh-round pick for Malik Willis to solve the issue behind Love.
Advertisement
Clifford was kept on the 2024 practice squad, while Pratt signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad. Most recently, Pratt was waived by the Buccaneers with an injury designation on August 21st. He will compete with Brandon Silvers, who has only started one spring league game in the last two seasons, and Ben Woolridge, who spent this summer as an undrafted rookie with the New England Patriots after a seven-year college career at Fresno State and Louisiana. Woolridge never signed to an NFL practice squad.
English (US) ·