Dolphins find their new backup QB by acquiring Kyle McCord from Packers

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One day after trading Quinn Ewers to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Miami Dolphins landed a new backup quarterback by acquiring Kyle McCord from the Green Bay Packers in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round draft pick.

The Dolphins had acquired a 2028 sixth-round selection from Jacksonville in the Ewers trade.

McCord had played the Packers’ entire preseason finale against Arizona on Friday and threw four touchdown passes, including two in the final 3 ½ minutes of a 42-38 victory. But the Packers already had a proven backup quarterback on their roster after signing Tyrod Taylor in May.

Rather than keeping three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster or trying to see if McCord could clear waivers and land on their practice squad, the Packers sent him to Miami. He becomes the latest recent connection between these two franchises.

Miami has former Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan as general manager and former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley as head coach. Now they have acquired McCord from Green Bay to back up Malik Willis, who signed a three-year, $67.5 million contract with Miami in March after backing up Jordan Love in Green Bay for the last two years.

The Packers host the Dolphins this season on Dec. 20.

McCord spent the 2025 season on the practice squad of the Philadelphia Eagles, who drafted him in the sixth round a year ago. The Packers signed him on Jan. 20.

He went 46 of 70 for 446 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions while getting sacked six times in three preseason games with Green Bay. McCord was 22 of 35 for 226 yards against the Cardinals on Friday.

“That was the big goal this preseason... to prove that I could play at this level,” McCord said after Friday's game. “I feel like the NFL, what we saw tonight, being down two possessions late in the game, being able to come back and make the most out of those drives is huge. Every single game in the NFL comes down to those situations.”

The 6-foot-3 quarterback played collegiately at Ohio State from 2021-23 and at Syracuse in 2024. He threw for 4,779 yards at Syracuse to set an Atlantic Coast Conference single-season record.

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