Last offseason, the Packers replaced Jordan Love‘s fifth-year option with a one-year extension. No new pact can be agreed upon until at least May 4, but talks on that front have begun. 
With Aaron Rodgers out of the picture, Green Bay made a short-term commitment to Love as the team’s 2024 starter. The $22.5MM pact the latter inked included escalators and bonuses as he helped guide the Packers to the second round of the postseason. Love is due $11MM in 2024 on his current contract, which is set to carry a cap hit of $12.76MM. A long-term accord will check in at a much higher rate.
A January report stated the Packers would explore an extension in the offseason, with general manager Brian Gutekunst having seen enough of the former first-rounder to commit to him as Green Bay’s long-term answer under center. When speaking at the league meetings, Gutekunst confirmed negotiations on a Love pact have indeed started. Nothing is imminent at this time, though.
“There’s been some, obviously, preliminary discussions,” Gutekunst said on Monday (video link via Ryan Woods of Packers News). “But we want to do it the right way. And certainly the sooner the better, but at the same time, we want to make sure we do it the right way. So, it’s started. But it’s not something that’s going to go quickly, I don’t think.”
NFL contracts cannot be extended twice within a 12-month span, so any new Love deal will not become official for at least six weeks. Still, it is of course noteworthy the sides have begun talks on a new agreement. The sides are in a unique situation with Love having made only one start in his first three NFL seasons. The 25-year-old had a less-than-stellar beginning to his first campaign as a starter, but down the stretch and into the postseason his play improved.
As a result, he is in line for a steep raise compared to his current deal. 12 quarterbacks currently average at least $40MM per season, and with the salary cap expected to continue rising at a notable rate that number will no doubt increase in the coming years. Love has much less experience in a No. 1 role than the veterans at the top of the market, but a number of relatively young passers have secured monster second contracts in recent years. If Love is to become the next in line, an agreement could be within reach relatively soon depending on the progress of negotiations.
Pay him now
That seems to be the plan
He’s earned it. It doesn’t have to be anything too crazy either
He has earned it. I agree
But it shouldn’t break the bank either. I’m no analyst but it should be in the same wheelhouse of a Baker mayfield or Geno smith maybe 3 years guaranteed
You have no plans to become a player agent do you? That would be a huge undersell of your client.
Hmmmmm
Dude…did you see him last year?
He’s not taking a Geno Smith or Baker Mayfield-type deal. He’s going to get top-of-the-market money. 5/250 is the starting point.
The advantage for GB is the year remaining, so they can make it a 5/250, but really a ~6/260 with 100M SB.
But yeah, he’s blowing WAY past either of those two.
It’s interesting spot though it’s only his first year as a starter even though he came in same year as Burrow Hurts Herbert Tua most of whom have gotten their huge load contracts.
Lol he is going to sign for way more then that. He will easily eclipse 40 million a year.
i got 5 on it
3 years, 100m extension. Enough for security and to feel valued for Love, low enough risk for the GM to feel ok and not be handcuffed if Love doesn’t continue to grow as a qb. If he blows you away, look at a new contract in 2026
I would love to see a 4 year deal at 30 or so per.
30M a year? Another said 3/100.
You guys are just not paying attention to the QB market. It’s 50M a year. That’s the minimum. The year remaining could drag down the AAV, but the new money will be at least 50M AAV, probably on a 5 year extension.
Baker who had a similar season just inked 3/100. Kirk cousins got 4/180, and Daniel Jones recently got 4/160.
With 1 full season starting it isn’t unreasonable to think it will fall within the range of 30-40.
Uh…no. Baker did NOT have a similar season. Love had the youngest team in the NFL SINCE THE MERGER.
He was the best QB in the NFL the last 10 games.
It was incredibly unreasonable to think he’d get 30M a year or even close to that.
Man you really came back half a year later for an I told you so.
Yeah, or 4 months and after he actually signed the contract.
For anyone dreaming that Love would sign an extension for only low 30s per year, why would he be forced to take much less money than Daniel Jones? Given how he played down the stretch, they want to lock him up before that number is 50.
Doesn’t it have to be in the Daniel Jones range? He’s shown he has more upside and that’s kind of going rate for young up and coming QBs. The Packers development plan has worked but unfortunately having a guy sit for so long means you have less time to decide whether you want to pay him.
Or Cousins. Unless he totally s**ts the bed this year, how can you give him less than the 45M Cousins got.
I know what preliminary discussions are. But what are obviously preliminary discussions?
I know this would not happen, but I would “love” for Love to say he would rather sign a “reasonable” (and fair) contract (but team-friendly) and make more money available so the team isn’t cash-strapped and can sign other players.
I know it’s not going to happen but one can dream that these kids will eventually see the light and say to themselves, “If I’m taking up 30 -35% of the cap and a couple of other guys are getting paid too so just us three or four are over 60% of the cap, how the hell are we going to have enough money to pay decent players and win?!”
It’s the old argument of how much is too much and I would rather win than be the highest-paid guy. Brady was never the highest-paid QB and he has 7; Mahomes is flexible like that and he has 3 already, so who will be next??
Forgot to include the 20% in dead money Gutey seems to think is a requirement every year.
What does that even mean, the “20% in dead money Gutey seems to think is a requirement every year?”
Nope. Just the two years. You know…when they were winning 13 games three years and the Cap instead of going UP 30M as it was projected in 2021, it went DOWN due to Covid.
Then the Packers traded a monster deal in Rodgers, this year they cleaned up the rest of the cap with Bakh, Douglas cap hits.
But how does that have ANYTHING to do with this extension? Are there just people who fundamentally don’t understand the sport, the cap and how well the Packers navigated the drop and seriously complaining about it? They spent ONE YEAR in “cap hell,” which isn’t even cap hell and then this year, they’re able to sign Free Agents.
So what in the hell could you possibly be complaining about?
You know how many NFL QBs have signed for less than what they thought they were worth in order to help the team? Zero. Brady was no exception. He was being paid off the books with sweetheart real estate deals, etc., that Kraft worked out for him.
The Packers are paying all of their receivers and tight ends a total of like $10 million combined this year. They can afford to just give their QB a big deal and restructure when it helps, which is Mahomes’ situation.
What are you talking about? Please name the QB who’s taking up “30 -35% of the cap and a couple of other guy getting paid too so just us three or four are over 60% of the cap.”
Who’s the guy making 89M dollars against the cap this year?
Who are the THREE making 153M?
Where are these numbers coming from? Just…reaching back, grabbing hold and throwing them onto the internet?
A “reasonable,” AND FAIR contract is going to be ~5 years and 250M.
Mahomes contract was massive, what are you talking about? And Brady had a huge advantage no other NFL QB has going for them. His wife made roughly the same if not more money then he did each year.
His 10 year contract was only “massive” if you don’t understand NFL contracts. 64M of it was fully GTD against injury.
The restructure later on gave him more GTD money, yet he STILL isn’t one of the top 6 paid QBs.
That’s what I’m “talking about.”
Don’t do it
Colin Cowheard called him a bust back in October but for some reason that clown still has a job critiquing football after 25 years.
He’s paid to act like the contrarian assclown. He does his job well.
The top requirements in being a pro sports analyst/expert seem to be spouting the most controversial or delusional opinions and ideas in the most annoying ways possible.
Stevie Aye Smiff, Skippy Bayloss, and Cowhair are just 3 examples. The list is endless. Making a complete fool of themselves on a regular basis gets them paid, and for some reason people keep tuning in to hear it.
I’m thinking a fair deal for Love would be 8 years at $40 million per year with an $80 million signing bonus.