The Green Bay Packers and starting quarterback Jordan Love are in the midst of contract negotiations that will keep the 2020 first round draft pick with the team for the foreseeable future. Going into OTA’s and training camp last offseason, there were questions about whether or not Love would be the long-term answer at quarterback following the trade of four-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers. However, Love’s performance in 2023 proved all critics and doubters wrong.
In his first season as the Packers’ starting quarterback, Love completed 64.1% of his passes for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 96.1 passer rating. These numbers were better than either Rodgers’ or Brett Favre’s in their first seasons as Green Bay’s starting quarterback.
Prior to last season, the Packers and Love agreed to a two-year deal that both gave him a raise last season and bought out his fifth-year option for this year. However, now that he is in the final year of that deal, he is due for an extension of massive proportions.
The Green Bay Packers and Jordan Love Have Watched Other NFL Teams Give Massive Contracts to Their Own Quarterbacks
When the offseason first began, it was very much assumed that the Packers and Love would agree to a contract extension after he became eligible in early May. At the time, most assumed that his deal would range between $46-48 million annually.
But then the Detroit Lions gave Jared Goff a four-year contract extension worth $212 million, or $53 million per season. That had many wondering if Love would not make $50 million or more on his deal.
And then the Jacksonville Jaguars gave Trevor Lawrence a five-year contract worth $275 million, or $55 million annually. At that point, people started to mention Love as a quarterback that could fetch as much as $60 million per year.
Obviously, Love and the Packers have not come to any sort of agreement yet. However, both sides have stated that they anticipate a deal getting done by the time training camp starts in late July.
Former NFL General Manager Mike Tannenbaum Suggests the Green Bay Packers Should Give Jordan Love a 10-Year $600 Million Contract
Appearing on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike Radio today, former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum suggested that the Packers bite the bullet and sign Love to a decade-long deal for $600 million, which would be, by far, the richest contract in NFL history.
“If I’m Jordan Love, I’m not even answering a call… and I’m asking for $60 million a year for 10 years. That’s right. $60 million a year for 10 years, and if I’m the Packers, I say ‘yes,'” he said.
Tannenbaum added, “If I’m Jordan Love, I’m telling my agents, ‘Don’t return a call until Dak Prescott signs.'”
There are rumblings, though, that Prescott may refuse to sign his next deal until after the 2024 season. If that ends up being the case, Tannenbaum believes that Love should wait as well.
Would It Make Sense for the Green Bay Packers to Pay Jordan Love That Much for That Long?
There is not going to be a waiting period for Love to sign with the Packers that extends into next offseason. As mentioned, both parties have publicly stated they want it done by training camp.
That being said, there is something to be said about a 10-year contract worth $600 million. It is not unprecedented to sign a quarterback to that long of a deal. The Kansas City Chiefs did it with Patrick Mahomes. While that is the only instance, the Packers and Love do have it as an example to go off of.
That $600 million number may look huge right now, and it is. That being said, when the Chiefs and Mahomes agreed to their deal it was $450 million, or $45 million a year. That made him one of the top-three-highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL.
Now he’s the tenth-highest paid quarterback in the NFL.
If the Packers give Love $60 million a year now on a ten-year contract, by the time he is three or four years in he will be far from the highest-paid quarterback in the league.
With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense for Green Bay. However, the sticking point may be how much of that money gets guaranteed.
A ten-year deal is not likely to happen anyway, but do not be surprised if Love ends up making $60 million a year anyway.
