Packers sign Canadian QB Taylor Elgersma, who only started playing football in 10th grade

The Green Bay Packers reached across the border for unconventional quarterback insurance on Monday, signing Taylor Elgersma, a Canadian prospect who only began playing football in 10th grade, after the undrafted 23-year-old participated in the team’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.

Elgersma’s signing was reported to NFL Media by his agent, Craig Schaeffer, and marks another improbable achievement for the Ontario-born quarterback, who grew up playing hockey before changing sports at Wilfrid Laurier University. Elgersma won the Hec Crighton Trophy, which is widely considered Canada’s version of the Heisman Trophy, during his final season playing for the Golden Hawks in 2024.

Since Canadian football permits 12 players on the field for each team, Elgersma only began practicing 11-on-11 football at the start of this year, per NFL Media. Still, he drew positive reviews from some scouts at the Senior Bowl in February. And now he’ll have a chance to earn a backup role with the Packers, competing with veteran No. 2 Malik Willis and former fifth-round draft pick Sean Clifford behind Jordan Love.

Despite going undrafted in the 2025 NFL Draft, Elgersma was also a second-round pick of the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers in April. Some have speculated he only slipped to Round 2 of the CFL draft because many teams anticipated he’d also receive NFL interest.