Sometimes, inactivity tells you everything you need to know. It was just a procedural and obvious move, but by not releasing quarterback Jordan Love by Saturday, the Green Bay Packers guaranteed $39.5 million of his 2026 salary.
That means Love will be the quarterback of the Packers this year and the next, at the minimum. And those were always practically guarantees on his contract extension signed last offseason.
Jordan Love is playing under a four-year, $220 million deal that goes through 2028. The guaranteed at signing part included a $75 million signing bonus, the 2024 and 2025 salaries, and $10.4 million of the 2026 salary. Now, a $39.5 million option bonus in 2026 is also guaranteed, securing him most of the $51 million compensation in 2026.
Last year, Love received $79 million. In 2025, based on the structure of his deal to keep the cap hit low in Year 2, the quarterback will make "only" $13 million. The cash goes up to $51 million in 2026, then goes back down to $43 million in 2027 and $45 million in 2028.
At the moment, $20 million of the 2027 salary is guaranteed for injury, and it becomes fully guaranteed next March. There aren't guarantees left beyond that.
Jordan Love cap hits
- 2025: $29.687 million
- 2026: $36.157 million
- 2027: $42.457 million
- 2027: $74.2 million
The final year is essentially an inflection point. With the cap hit being so high, the likely scenario is that the Packers will work on an early extension to make it more palatable.
Other trigger dates
The fifth day of the league year is on Sunday, so that's an important date for Packers' contracts. Besides Jordan Love's guarantees, three players will receive roster bonuses.
- DT Kenny Clark - $7.5 million
- DE Rashan Gary - $8.7 million
- S Xavier McKinney - $8.5 million
The Packers would obviously keep all these players, so cutting them to avoid the roster bonuses was never a realistic consideration. At the same time, the roster bonuses triggering has a real impact on the team's salary cap in 2025.
If Green Bay wanted to restructure them to signing bonuses to spread the cap hit, thus lowering the 2025 cap hit, Saturday was the final date. Therefore, all these amounts will hit the cap in 2025, with the Packers clearly avoiding kicking the can down the road as they did in the final years of Aaron Rodgers with the franchise.
