USFL MVP Alex McGough signs with Green Bay Packers

Last updated: 2023/07/19 at 9:44 PM

BigP Published July 19, 2023

Eric Williams

NFC West Writer

It didn’t take long for the best player in the USFL to find a new opportunity in the National Football League.

Two weeks after leading the Birmingham Stallions to a second straight USFL championship, quarterback Alex McGough has signed onto the 90-man roster for the Green Bay Packers after a Tuesday workout, the Packers announced on Wednesday.

The Stallions announced on social media that McGough has been released to sign with an NFL team.

A seventh-round selection of the Seattle Seahawks in the 2018 draft, McGough spent time on the practice squad of the Seahawks, as well as the practice squad and active roster of the Houston Texans, but has never played in an NFL regular season game.

McGough joins a Green Bay quarterback room that includes Jordan Love, the presumed starter following the departure of Aaron Rodger, along with Danny Etling and Sean Clifford.

After J’Mar Smith went down for the season with a broken finger in the opening game, McGough took over for Birmingham and proved an unstoppable force in the USFL.

McGough led the Stallions to an 8-2 record during the regular season, completing a league-high 67.4% of his passes for 2,104 yards, with 20 passing touchdowns and only five interceptions. He also rushed for 403 yards and five scores.

[McGough is USFL MVP, but how high can he climb?]

McGough finished with 307 total yards and four passing touchdowns in Birmingham’s win over the Pittsburgh Maulers in the USFL Championship Game. In the postseason, he averaged 350 passing yards and threw for nine touchdowns, completing 69.6% of his passes.

[How the Stallions became a power: ‘We wanted to build a dynasty’]

McGough is one of a handful of players from the USFL this season already contacted by NFL teams. His teammate kicker Brandon Aubrey signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

Houston Gamblers tight end Josh Pederson signed with his dad Doug Pederson’s team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And Gamblers running back Mark Thompson and Pittsburgh Maulers linebacker Kyahva Tezino worked out for the New York Giants.

Last year, the USFL had 60 players sign deals for training camp and 24 stick on the active roster or the practice squad for NFL teams.

Eric D. Williams is an NFL writer for FOX Sports. He has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter @eric_d_williams.