The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the Buffalo Bills have signed second-year quarterback Brian Brohm off of the Green Bay Packers' practice squad. In order to complete the signing, the Bills released third-string quarterback Gibran Hamdan so as to have room for Brohm on the active roster.
Brohm was a second-round pick of Green Bay in the 2008 NFL Draft, selected No. 56 overall. He was the third quarterback selected in that draft class, behind Atlanta's Matt Ryan and Baltimore's Joe Flacco. One of the more prolific passers in the nation in his sophomore, junior and senior seasons at Louisville, the 6'4", 228-pound Brohm threw for 10,775 yards, 70 touchdowns and 24 interceptions. At just 24 years of age, Brohm still has a considerable amount of unrealized potential.
He was cut, however, after a 2009 pre-season in which he struggled mightily. He has been on Green Bay's practice squad ever since, and took Buffalo's two-year offer over Green Bay's similar two-year offer to join their active roster. Additionally, as the Sentinel also points out, Brohm's college center was one Eric Wood, now a rookie guard for the Bills.
Buffalo recently benched 2007 third-round pick Trent Edwards in favor of veteran backup Ryan Fitzpatrick. All signs point toward the Bills looking for their next franchise signal-caller starting this coming off-season, and Brohm is a young, talented player with upside. This is a smart signing for the organization, though it's much closer to a stab in the dark than an answer to the franchise's longest-standing question mark.