GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers welcomed their new practice-squad quarterback on Tuesday.
Or, more accurately, welcomed back.
"Yeah, exactly. It's good to be back," Kedon Slovis said after practice.
Slovis was among the players the Cardinals released during Sunday's roster cutdown. He had just been in Green Bay for Wednesday's joint practice and Friday's preseason game against the Packers.
"Yeah, it's been crazy," he said. "Got here last night. So, quick turnaround, but cool to be part of such a great organization. And a lot of familiarity with J.G. and LaFleur - even Hackett knowing all the people here. So, I was really excited to get the call."
J.G. is Jonathan Gannon; he was the Cardinals' coach last season, when Slovis was on their practice squad. LaFleur is Slovis jumping from coach Mike LaFleur in Arizona to coach Matt LaFleur in Green Bay. Hackett is Nathaniel Hackett, who is Arizona's offensive coordinator this year after serving as Green Bay's offensive coordinator from 2019 through 2021 and as an analyst last year.
Upon arriving in Green Bay, Slovis talked about footwork with Matt LaFleur.
"Then at the end, I kind of messed with him, saying that he reminded me of his brother when I heard his voice, but he didn't like that, so I'll keep that to myself," Slovis said with a laugh.
On a practical note, it should be a relatively smooth transition going from Arizona to Green Bay. From the LaFleurs to Hackett, they all speak a common language of offensive football. So, while Slovis hadn't seen the playbook yet, there was some immediate comfort on the practice field.
"Just being out at practice and hearing the words, either the words are the same or there's certain carryover," Slovis said. "Now, there's a lot of things that are new to me, too, but a lot of it already for being here for a few hours feels pretty familiar."
Green Bay is another new start for Slovis in a career filled with them.
A three-star recruit from Scottsdale, Ariz., where he was mentored by Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, he spent the 2019 through 2021 seasons at USC, 2022 at Pittsburgh and 2023 at BYU. He started 42 games in five seasons and threw for almost 12,000 yards.
Despite the experience and a quality blend of size (6-foot-2 1/2 with 9 7/8-inch hands) and athleticism (4.55 in the 40), he went undrafted in 2024. In 2024, he spent training camp with the Colts and the season on the Texans' practice squad. In 2025, he spent camp with the Texans and the season on the Cardinals' practice squad. Now, in 2026, he spent camp with Arizona but was released in favor of Jacoby Brissett , Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck .
In the final preseason game against the Packers, he led the Cardinals to 28 points in almost three quarters of action. He was 21-of-35 passing for 223 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
"I was honestly fairly proud of it," he said. "Obviously, you have the stuff where you get hit and throw some picks, which is part of the game; unfortunately, I'd like to mitigate that, but it's going to happen. So, I'm not beating myself over it too much. I think that the biggest thing I was just happy with, mentally, I felt like I was going right place to the ball all the time, whether that resulted in a good completion or not."
Then, channeling a favorite Matt LaFleur phrase, he viewed it as process over results.
"We talk about being process driven, so I feel like the process was good all around," he continued. "I was fairly happy with it, but always some things you could look at and have back. There are a few throws that I missed that I was kind of frustrated with, too."
The Packers are his fourth team in three seasons. What drives him?
"Just love ball and I can't see myself doing anything else," he said. "So, any opportunity to play, be around it, I'm going to take it. I think it's a great opportunity. As long as those keep coming, I'll keep taking it."
Being on a practice squad for a third consecutive season might not be what he had in mind, but it's not an insignificant accomplishment, either, for a player who went undrafted. There are exactly 100 quarterbacks collecting paychecks as of Wednesday morning.
But what's the next step? How does he get from the practice squad to a player worthy of a roster spot?
"Just to develop and I think get to the point where coaches trust you to be a guy where they can, whether it's a backup role or feel like they can bring you in and play in some games," he said. "Obviously, the goal is to be a guy that they want to play but, obviously, there's some steps to go before that. So, I think that's the next part is just develop as much as I can and kind of let the chips fall with me."
There is an opportunity at hand. No different than was the case with Kyle McCord , there is a potential opening on the roster for next season. This year's backup, Tyrod Taylor , is 37 and in Green Bay with a one-year contract. There's no guarantee he'll be back for next season. So, if Slovis develops under the tutelage of Green Bay's coaches, as was the case with McCord, and earns enough trust, he could be in a good position next season.
Not that he's looking anywhere close to that far down the road.
"I try not to, honestly," he said. "You never know how things work out in that sense. I just mean, more in a sense of if you get better, regardless of where you end up, but if you get better from the time - you know, season ends in February, let's say, right? You get better from now, Sept. 1, until February, end of the Super Bowl, and then you take the spring to get better, and you get to show it in preseason, whether it's the organization you're in or someone else, they're going to notice it, and people talk.
"A big reason why I'm here, I think, is because people talk. Asked people in Arizona what they think. People in Arizona asked what people in Houston think. So, a lot of it is just focusing on what you can control and then kind of let the rest of the chips fall where they may."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/packers/onsi as After 'Crazy' Week, Packers QB Kedon Slovis Knows Key to Taking Next Step .
