The Green Bay Packers are in a bit of a unique spot with their young quarterback, Jordan Love, who is looking to cash in with a massive extension after one half-season of elite play.
Love sat behind Aaron Rodgers the first three seasons of his career and then got the starting nod in year four, 2023. His rookie deal would expire after the ’23 season and a fifth-year option sat Green Bay’s lap worth north of $20 million. Well, Love had yet to start a game as of last May and that was a lofty figure, so the sides settled on a one-year extension for roughly $11 million with the potential of $22 million in incentives for the ’24 season.
Now, though, Love has played and performed very well down the stretch, particularly in the playoffs. Of course, he’d like to be paid accordingly, meaning a massive extension in the ballpark of Trevor Lawrence, a quarterback certainly a rung below Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow who still got similar money as those guys, resetting the market for his tier of quarterback.
According to Jeremy Fowler, who reported on the Love contract talks on SportsCenter Saturday morning, that late-season surge really changed the Packers QB’s market, especially given the figures some other quarterbacks have received (cough, cough, Trevor Lawrence).
“This one’s interesting, because really, just the one season, small sample size, got hot late in the year, second half was one of the best quarterbacks in the league,” Fowler said, noting that those couple months of play completely redefined Love’s value across the league.
“The tricky thing now is I’ve talked to a lot of scouts and executives believe he’s now a top 10 passer in the entire NFL,” Fowler added. “Just a small sample and that costs a lot of money as we know.”
But he believes the Packers have no plans of letting Love go and will ultimately sign him to whatever deal they must before this fall.
“So, they’re going to try to shake something out. The Packers would like to get a long-term deal done with Love before training camp. That’s their goal. A little bit of pressure on the Packers after all those years of problems and fiascos with Aaron Rodgers. They would like a clean process here just to get this done with Jordan Love.”
Per Fowler, Expect Love tied down long-term in Green Bay, Wisconsin following a promising 2023. It’ll be Spotted Cow and swiss cheese headgear for years to come!
