Former USC Trojans quarterback Kedon Slovis has a new NFL home — and it is not the one most expected.
The Green Bay Packers signed Slovis to their practice squad Tuesday, filling the developmental quarterback spot created when general manager Brian Gutekunst traded Kyle McCord to Miami.
The move came days after Tennessee waived former second-round pick Will Levis, a name widely floated as Green Bay’s logical next reclamation project after the Packers turned Malik Willis into a starter elsewhere.
Instead, they chose the former Trojan.
For USC fans, the surprise is layered. Slovis was never supposed to be the face of the program. A three-star out of Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain High, he committed to the Trojans after a last-minute offer from quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis.
When JT Daniels tore his ACL in the 2019 opener, the true freshman stepped in and rewrote the record book: 3,502 yards, 30 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and a 71.9 percent completion rate that still stands as an NCAA freshman mark.
He threw for 515 yards against UCLA and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. In three seasons at USC he amassed 7,576 yards and 58 touchdowns. Those numbers still sit among the program’s best.
The later chapters were harder. Injuries, a pandemic-shortened 2020, and a 4-8 2021 season under a coaching change pushed him into the transfer portal. Stops at Pittsburgh and BYU followed.
He went undrafted in 2024, bounced from the Colts to the Texans practice squad to Arizona, and made a brief active-roster appearance with the Cardinals last year. This preseason he completed 63.9 percent of his passes for 434 yards.
In the finale against Green Bay he went 21-of-35 for 223 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions — enough for Packers coach Matt LaFleur to call him “a natural thrower” and “really talented.” The fact that Slovis had just played for LaFleur’s brother, Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur, only tightened the connection.
Levis offered more starting experience and a bigger arm. Green Bay passed. Gutekunst needed a practice-squad quarterback who could grow behind Jordan Love and Tyrod Taylor. Slovis, 25, with five college seasons of live snaps and a compact, accurate delivery, fit the brief.
For Trojans, it is a familiar story recast. The kid who arrived unheralded, seized the job, and left after the shine faded now gets another look in one of the league’s better quarterback laboratories.
Fight On does not expire at the Coliseum gates. Slovis is still throwing, still competing, and still wearing a helmet that traces back to Heritage Hall.
