Jordan Love

Packers QB Jordan Love Avoids Serious Injury, On Track To Play Week 9

November 3rd, 2024 at 7:13am CST by Ben Levine

NOVEMBER 3: Love suffered no setbacks in practice this past week, and while he carries a “questionable” designation due to his groin injury, he is expected to play in Week 9, per Pelissero. Given that Green Bay (6-2) is hosting the Lions (6-1) with the NFC North lead on the line, this is especially good news for the Packers.

OCTOBER 28: Jordan Love may have avoided a serious injury during yesterday’s win over the Jaguars, but the Packers QB isn’t in the clear for Week 9. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero passes along that Love likely “avoided a long-term injury” in yesterday’s contest. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky notes that today’s tests didn’t show any significant damage, and Love has officially been diagnosed with a strain.

Love tweaked his groin and was seen hobbling throughout the first half of yesterday’s contest. He eventually left the game, with backup Malik Willis playing the majority of the second half. An MCL sprain forced the starter to miss both Week 2 and Week 3, but despite the growing list of ailments, the Packers aren’t intending to slowly nurse Love back to full health.

“Yeah, if he can go, he’ll go,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Love’s status for this weekend (via Demovsky). “So, we’ll see where he’s at by the end of the week. But if we feel like he can’t protect himself, then we certainly wouldn’t put him in that position.”

As LaFleur noted, the Packers will take the week to evaluate Love’s progress before making a final call on their QB situation for Sunday’s showdown with the Lions. If Love is forced to miss the game, Demovsky writes that it would likely only be a one-game absence for the quarterback.

After finally being elevated to the QB1 role in 2023, Love had a breakout campaign, tossing 32 touchdowns before helping guide his squad to the Divisional Round. The QB inked a four-year, $220MM extension this offseason, and Love has started the 2024 campaign with a 4-2 record and a league-leading 7.5 percent passing TD %. Despite missing two-plus games, Love has also tossed a league-leading nine interceptions.

Packers Get QB Jordan Love Back In Week 4

September 28th, 2024 at 5:57pm CST by Ely Allen

Many feared the Packers’ season was over before it even got a chance to take off when highly-paid quarterback Jordan Love went down with an apparent leg injury during the final drive of the team’s season opener in Brazil. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, though, in Week 4, Love will attempt to make a return to the field much earlier than expected in an effort to keep his team in the NFC North race.

That goal is made much easier by the fact that backup quarterback Malik Willis has led Green Bay to two straight wins following the season-opening loss. Willis hasn’t been a world-beater as a stand-in passer for the past two weeks, but he’s been an effective enough replacement to secure two wins for his squad.

Willis has been so effective, in fact, that there has been speculation that both Love and Willis could get playing time this week with Love active. This could be an idea that results from slow-playing Love in his return to the field. If they aren’t 100 percent confident that their new franchise passer is ready to return in a safe and healthy way, they likely won’t hesitate to put Willis back in under center.

When Love suffered his injury, there were predictions that he would miss anywhere from three to six weeks, and should he make his return this week, he would beat even the most liberal estimates after only a two-game absence. Two weeks ago, it was reported that Love was aiming for a Week 5 return, and there was even some hope that he might appear last week, but it looks like this weekend will be the time for his comeback.

Packers’ Jordan Love Inactive For Week 3

September 22nd, 2024 at 12:31am CST by Adam La Rose

SEPTEMBER 22: Although the Packers have not yet announced Love’s status, the second-year starter is once again expected to be sidelined, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note. Considering Week 5 had surfaced as an early Love return window, it is not exactly surprising Green Bay will continue to exercise caution despite its starter’s return to practice. Thus, Willis’ Tennessee return will take on far greater significance. Love has since been declared inactive.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2:15pm: Love practiced on a limited basis once again on Thursday. Head coach Matt LaFleur said the team is prepared to wait until 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday (when inactives are announced) before making a final call, indicating the extent to which Love is a candidate to return in Week 3. His status could still easily change in the coming days, of course, depending on his recovery progress.

9:44am: While Malik Willis won in his Packers debut, Jordan Love‘s ability to return to the lineup remains a key talking point for the team. Green Bay’s starter returned to practice on Wednesday, and he now has at least an outside chance of suiting up in Week 3.

“I’m hopeful that I’ll get to that point where I can get in there,” Love said, via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman (subscription required). The second-year starter practiced on a limited basis Wednesday, and day-to-day evaluations will take place during the immediate future to determine his status. A cautious approach on the team’s part would come as no surprise, of course, but the fact Love could be an option to play on Sunday is notable.

An MCL sprain suffered during the Packers’ season opener led to the expectation of a multi-week absence. A stint on injured reserve was not deemed necessary, though, and a recent update indicated Week 5 was Love’s targeted return date. Even if he does not progress to the point where playing is feasible on Sunday, continued practice time could allow the 25-year-old to return to the lineup in Week 4 after just two missed contests.

Love is currently using a brace, and his mobility over the coming days will be key in determining whether or not he plays against the Titans. If that does not end up being the case, Willis will be in line for a second straight start. A contest against Tennessee would be particularly significant given the fact he began his career there before being traded to Green Bay shortly before the start of the regular season.

Willis – who did not expect to be dealt upon losing the Titans’ backup competition to Mason Rudolph – had a solid, if unspectacular, Packers debut in Week 2. The former third-rounder completed 12 of his 14 pass attempts for 122 yards and one touchdown while adding 41 rushing yards. Willis did not take any sacks or commit any turnovers, and a similar outing would be welcomed by team and player against Tennessee if it were necessary. Plenty will depend on how Love progresses over the coming days before a final decision is made.

NFL Injury Updates: Texans, Herbert, Love, Mims

September 21st, 2024 at 3:38pm CST by Ely Allen

The Texans offense has been inundated with injuries over the past week. Both starting running back Joe Mixon and primary backup rusher Dameon Pierce are set to miss the team’s trip to Minnesota this weekend, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. In addition, center Jarrett Patterson has been ruled out, as well.

Mixon is still dealing with an ankle injury that knocked him out of last week’s win over the Bears. After an explosive Week 1 debut with the Texans, in which he rushed 30 times for 159 yards and a touchdown, Mixon only rushed the ball nine times before getting knocked out last week. Pierce was absent in last week’s game as he dealt with a hamstring injury that he suffered in Week 1.

With its RB1 and RB2 on the injury report, Houton will have to turn to Cam Akers and Dare Ogunbowale in Week 3. The team also called up practice squad rusher J.J. Taylor as some potential insurance. Juice Scruggs should be back starting at center, though he’s also listed as questionable with a groin injury. With Patterson out, Kendrick Green will be the backup center.

Here are some other injury updates from around the NFL:

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has spent the week dealing with a high ankle sprain, barely appearing at practice since last Sunday. Yesterday, it was announced that there was no decision on whether or not he would be able to start this Sunday. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, though, there’s growing optimism in Los Angeles that Herbert will be able to start in Pittsburgh tomorrow. He’s currently listed as questionable, and he’ll reportedly test the ankle before the game before making a final call.
Another starting quarterback, Jordan Love, is currently listed as questionable to play tomorrow. The Packers anticipated a multi-week absence for their newly-paid passer, but per Pelissero, the team has not yet ruled out the possibility that Love returns after only one absence. Still, Green Bay called up Sean Clifford from the practice squad. Clifford will back up Malik Willis if Love is unable to go in time for tomorrow.
We already knew that wide receiver Tee Higgins was set to make his 2024 debut on Monday, but Pelissero adds that rookie first-round offensive tackle Amarius Mims has been removed from the injury report and is set to make his NFL debut for the Bengals, as a result. Mims had been dealing with a pectoral muscle injury that limited his time in training camp and kept him out of the team’s first two contests. It’s unclear what his role would be if he does play immediately, as Trent Brown has been starting for the first few games, but regardless, Cincinnati will be happy to add a first-round talent to their offense this week.

Packers’ Jordan Love Aiming For Week 5 Return

September 15th, 2024 at 2:14pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Packers are relying on Malik Willis under center in Week 2 while Jordan Love recovers from his MCL sprain. Injured reserve is not under consideration, and as a result a return to action within four weeks is possible.

In the latest update on Love’s status, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the second-year starter is aiming to be back in place for Week 5 (video link). The injury is not as serious as it originally appeared, Rapoport adds, which is a positive sign. Love initially appeared to be facing a three-to-six week recovery timeline, so Week 5 would represent the best-case scenario in terms of taking the field.

Willis only made three starts during his three-year Titans tenure, all of which took place during his rookie campaign. The former third-rounder did not develop as hoped in Tennessee, but he was surprised he found himself on the move shortly before the start of the campaign. Willis, 25, spent the build-up to the regular season attempting to learn head coach Matt LaFleur‘s scheme and he will be counted on to operate the offense for a short-term period. Sean Clifford – who like Michael Pratt was among the Packers’ roster cuts – is in place as the team’s backup.

Love faced questions about his viability as Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers successor ahead of last season. After an inconsistent start to the 2023 campaign, the 25-year-old put up strong numbers down the stretch and through the postseason. In spite of his limited experience, Love joined a number of other young passers in securing a monster extension this offseason. He is now attached to a $55MM AAV, a figure which put him in a tie for the lead in that respect until Dak Prescott‘s new Cowboys deal was worked out.

Given the size of the commitment made by Green Bay to Love, the team will no doubt prefer to take a cautious approach with his return. Success with Willis at the helm could help the Packers elect to sit Love an extra game or so, but even without that their starting signal-caller should be back in relatively short order.

Injury Notes: Bears, Walker, Murray, Bosa

September 11th, 2024 at 9:17pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bears got good news surrounding the knee injury that knocked Rome Odunze out of Sunday’s season opener. Per Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, the rookie wide receiver suffered a Grade 1 knee sprain, the “best-case scenario” for the team and player.

Odunze suffered his MCL injury while blocking for Velus Jones Jr. during a fourth-quarter screen pass. The rookie stayed in the game for one additional play before exiting for good. The wideout is officially considered week-to-week, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and there’s been no indication that the ninth-overall pick will have a stay on injured reserve. Coach Matt Eberflus said the Bears were “lucky” to avoid a serious injury, and he even kept the door open to Odunze playing in Week 2.

Wednesday’s injury report also showed that fellow receiver Keenan Allen didn’t practice while nursing a heel injury. Eberflus later clarified that the wideout was considered day-to-day, and there’s hope the offseason acquisition can hit the practice field on Thursday and Friday following his day off.

In the unlikely event that both Odunze and Allen are sidelined, the Bears’ deep wide receiver grouping will be down to just D.J. Moore. Rookie QB Caleb Williams is certainly hoping for his full arsenal of wideouts following an NFL debut where he completed only 14 of 29 pass attempts for 93 yards.

More injury notes from around the NFL…

Kenneth Walker left Sunday’s game with an oblique injury and didn’t practice on Wednesday, per the Seahawks‘ injury report. Mike Macdonald said the running back is day-to-day (via ESPN’s Brady Henderson), but another missed practice would obviously put the player’s Week 2 availability in doubt. Walker exited the season opener after compiling 103 rushing yards and one touchdown. Zach Charbonnet finished the game at running back, scoring a 30-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Kyler Murray was a full participant at today’s practice, but the Cardinals QB still showed up on the injury report with a knee injury. Murray, of course, suffered an ACL injury during the 2022 campaign, and 2024 represented his first healthy offseason in a few years. Murray didn’t miss a snap on Sunday, and it seemed like his knee was in good shape after he ran for 57 yards. Clayton Tune is the only other QB currently on the active roster.
The Chargers announced that Joey Bosa was a limited participant at Wednesday’s practice while dealing with a back injury. The pass rusher appeared in 60 percent of his team’s defensive snaps in Week 1, collecting a sack and a forced fumble along the way. The long-time Charger has been snake bitten by injuries over the past few years, missing 20 total games.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport passes along a list of other notable players who didn’t practice on Wednesday, including Bengals receiver Tee Higgins (hamstring), Chiefs receiver Marquise Brown (shoulder), Browns tight end David Njoku (ankle), Packers quarterback Jordan Love (MCL), and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hip/hamstring).

Packers Will Not Place Jordan Love On IR; Team Has Not Contacted Free Agent QBs

September 9th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Packers are set to rely on Malik Willis in the event Jordan Love misses time over the coming weeks. That remains a distinct possibility in the latter’s case, but he will not be placed on injured reserve.

Love is dealing with an MCL sprain, and he is facing a recovery timeline of three to six weeks. Placing him on IR would guarantee an absence of at least four weeks, but head coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday that route will not be taken. Love is therefore a candidate to return on the short end of that timeframe, and for that reason Green Bay is not interested in adding a signal-caller.

“No. Despite reports,” LaFleur said of the Packers having interest in a free agent quarterback (via Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press-Gazette). “It’s crazy to me how people come up with some of these things. I think you explore every possibility, but at no point in time did we ever have any discussions with anybody.”

A report from Sunday stated the Packers reached out to Ryan Tannehill, the most experienced quarterback currently on the market. It was unclear at the time if Green Bay represented a destination Tannehill was interested in as he weighs his options, but LaFleur’s comments confirm no contract talks took place anyway. With Love set to only miss a brief period, the team will rely on Willis and Sean Clifford under center.

Green Bay had Clifford and seventh-round rookie Michael Pratt in place during the summer as they competed for the backup gig. Neither passer impressed, and they were both waived during roster cutdowns. Clifford cleared waivers and was retained on the practice squad whereas Pratt departed and joined the Buccaneers’ taxi squad.

Willis was acquired via trade shortly before the roster cut deadline, giving him a short window of time to learn the Packers’ offense. The former Titans draftee did not anticipate being dealt despite the fact free agent signing Mason Rudolph outperformed him during training camp and the preseason. Willis, 25, made three starts as a rookie but he made only three appearances last season as Tennessee transitioned from Tannehill to Will Levis. The Packers will offer him a new opportunity on a short-term basis until Love is back to full health.

Packers’ Jordan Love Suffers MCL Sprain, To Miss Three To Six Weeks

September 8th, 2024 at 8:54am CST by Ben Levine

SEPTEMBER 8: Love’s MCL injury is between a Grade 1 and Grade 2 sprain, per Rapoport (video link). Love will miss three to six weeks, and it is still unclear whether Willis or Clifford will take the reins in the meantime.

SEPTEMBER 7, 10:04PM: It’s bittersweet news for the Packers after getting the results of their additional scans. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Love’s ACL suffered no damage, but he has suffered an MCL sprain. To be clear: this is still good news. When the alternative was the end of the 2024 season for Love, an MCL sprain should be a breath of fresh air.

The young passer, who leads the league in annual average value while making $55MM per year, will still likely miss some time, but the prognosis is much more positive than a season-ending injury. It looks like Green Bay will be forced to depend on Willis or Clifford at quarterback for about four t0 six weeks until Love is able to return. That or they will need to look to the free agent market for a rental.

11:15AM: Some good news on the Love front, at least temporarily. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that initial tests indicate that Love’s ACL is intact. Of course, the quarterback isn’t completely out of the woods. Pelissero warns that there’s still “a wide range of outcomes based on additional scans.”

9:05AM: The Packers dropped their season opener to the Eagles, but the team may have suffered an even more devastating loss along the way. Jordan Love suffered an apparent leg injury during the final drive of last night’s game in Brazil.

A dejected Matt LaFleur didn’t have any updates about his quarterback’s condition following the game. The Packers are scheduled to land back in Green Bay this afternoon, at which time they’ll presumably get more clarity on Love’s injury. Dianna Russini of The Athletic clarifies that Love will indeed undergo an MRI later today, although an ankle injury has already been ruled out.

The injury occurred with five seconds remaining in the game as Love was attempting a Hail Mary pass. Replays showed the quarterback’s knee pop as he was brought to the ground by Eagles defenders, and Love then remained on the ground while “writhing in pain,” per Lukas Weese and Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes, the injury was clearly reminiscent of Kirk Cousins‘ season-ending Achilles injury last year.

From a glass-half-full perspective, Weese and Schneidman note that Love was able to exit the Packers locker room under his own power. The quarterback also didn’t have a noticeable limp.

The centerpiece of Green Bay’s young core, Love was expected to take another step forward following his breakout 2023 campaign. The Packers are especially confident in their franchise quarterback, as the team handed him a four-year, $220MM extension this offseason that featured a record $55MM average annual value. If Love is forced to miss time, Malik Willis would likely take over as the starting quarterback. The Packers are also stashing Sean Clifford on the practice squad.

Center Josh Myers also suffered an injury on the same play as Love, with the lineman telling ESPN’s Rob Demovsky that “severe cramps” forced him to the sideline. The starter will presumably be alright moving forward, but the Packers showed their contingency plan on the final two playe by moving Elgton Jenkins to center (with Sean Rhyan taking over as left guard and Jordan Morgan taking over as right guard).

Matt LaFleur, Brian Gutekunst Address Packers’ Jordan Love Extension

July 27th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

Contractually speaking, it is difficult to find a direct comp to Jordan Love‘s climb. The Packers did extend Aaron Rodgers midway through his first season as a starter, but the team did not need to give its Brett Favre successor a contract that checked in first or even second in terms of average annual value in 2008. They did reach the NFL’s AAV ceiling for Love, and the Rodgers replacement’s four-year, $220MM extension — which the parties finalized Friday night — is now official.

While Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence are tied to $55MM-per-year deals like Love now is, the Bengals and Jaguars QBs are on five-year contracts. Negotiating in a contract year — whereas Burrow, Lawrence and Justin Herbert had two years left on their rookie deals — Love managed the $55MM AAV over a four-year contract, topping where the Dolphins went for Tua Tagovailoa earlier Friday. After contract structure was believed to loom as this negotiation’s final hurdle, Love secured favorable terms and will return to practice after a brief hold-in.

The Packers guaranteed Love $100.8MM at signing, with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noting the practical guarantee in this contract is $140.3MM. Against guarantees beyond Year 1 for non-quarterbacks, the Packers guaranteed Love’s 2025 base salary ($11.9MM) and part of his 2026 base ($49.9MM). The team guaranteed $10.9MM of that 2026 figure at signing, with the rest of that money shifting from an injury guarantee to a full guarantee in March 2025. Love will be a Packer by that March date, raising the practical guarantee to that $140.3MM point.

This contract does include a record-setting signing bonus of $75MM. Love will see that money in three 2024 installments, collecting the bonus — which will be used to spread out the QB’s cap hits — by December, Florio adds. The Packers are also using a rolling guarantee structure for Love’s 2027 payout. Of Love’s $41.9MM 2027 base salary, $20MM is guaranteed for injury at signing and becomes fully guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year.

Further spreading out Love’s cap hits, Florio indicates $39.5MM of Love’s 2026 base salary and $31.5MM of his 2027 base will convert to option bonuses in those years. After just two seasons, Love’s full guarantee balloons to $160.3MM. If the Packers cut Love in 2027, Florio adds the $20MM injury guarantee includes offset language.

Addressing the contract Saturday morning, Matt LaFleur said (via the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s Ryan Wood) it is difficult to argue anyone outplayed Love during last season’s second half. Love indeed led the NFL in QBR from Weeks 11-18, throwing 18 touchdown passes and one interception in that span. This continued with a dominant outing in a wild-card upset win in Dallas. For the full season, Love ranked ninth in QBR.

Taking considerable heat upon trading up for Love in 2020 — a decision that indeed deprived the last wave of Rodgers-era teams of a first-rounder who would help Super Bowl-contending squads — the Packers are making a seismic bet last season’s second half will lead to another run of stability at the QB position. They have enjoyed an unparalleled run, of course, at this position, as Favre lasted 16 seasons and Rodgers 15 as the team’s starter.

LaFleur said (via SI.com’s Bill Huber) he became comfortable with Love replacing Rodgers after the 2022 season due to how the 2020 draftee played during the preseason and on Green Bay’s scout team during the regular season. This led to a separation that involved two second-round picks coming back to Green Bay in last year’s Rodgers trade.

The outlier organization when it comes to quarterback development, the Packers are again betting on a season’s worth of starts will be indicative of long-term success. The Ted Thompson regime was certainly right on Rodgers, who was considered a higher-level prospect compared to Love. By parking Love for three seasons, the team missed out on the chance to build around Love’s rookie-scale contract and now will go from carrying a $40.3MM Rodgers dead money hit in 2023 to rostering a record-setting Love deal in 2024. Gutekunst acknowledged this contract will create cap challenges, via Huber, but noted he would rather be in that boat than lacking a good quarterback.

Both Love and Tagovailoa benefited from their teams waiting until Year 5 to complete extensions, as each secured four-year terms to move them into position for lucrative third contracts earlier. This NFL period has generally featured franchise-level first-round QBs being extended in Year 4, giving teams an extra year of control. Because of Tagovailoa’s injury issues and uneven career start, the Dolphins waited. The Packers reached a half-measure extension (two years, $13.5MM) with Love last year, rather than exercise a fifth-year option on a QB who had barely played. Less than 18 months later, the Utah State product required a record-setting contract, illustrating the leverage quality quarterbacks — even those without extensive sample sizes — possess in today’s game.

Packers, QB Jordan Love Agree On Extension

July 26th, 2024 at 10:18pm CST by Ely Allen

The next domino has fallen in regard to quarterback contracts. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Packers have reached an agreement extending quarterback Jordan Love on a four-year, $220MM deal. The contract makes Love tied for the highest annual average salary in NFL history.

The Packers quarterback is set to receive an NFL-record $75MM signing bonus. Jared Goff‘s signing bonus this year of $73MM is the next-closest such figure. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Love’s new contract includes $155MM in new guarantees. Love will collect $79MM in the deal’s first year, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who adds he will see $175MM over the contract’s first three years. That betters Goff’s three-year total by $10MM.

This wraps a pivotal day for NFL contracts, with Love’s extension coming hours after the Dolphins gave Tua Tagovailoa a four-year, $212.4MM deal. Unlike Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence over the past year, Tagovailoa and Love agreed to four-year contracts. This will put the 2020 draftees in position to potentially cash in on third NFL deals earlier than the Chargers, Bengals and Jaguars passers, who agreed to five-year deals. After a report Friday afternoon indicated contract structure was holding up this agreement, the parties hammered out a deal that will tie Love to Green Bay through the 2028 season.

Love’s path to his big payday is one not often seen in the NFL. After being the fourth quarterback taken in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Love was the only one of the four passers to not start at least half the season as a rookie. In fact, Love was the only first-round pick in that year to not even appear in a game his rookie season. He fell victim that year to the Packers’ notorious strategy of drafting and stashing a quarterback talent while their long-time veteran finishes out his time in Green Bay.

After redshirting his rookie year, Love made his first career start in 2021, replacing a COVID-19-positive Aaron Rodgers. He delivered a middling performance in a loss to the Chiefs and appeared in mostly garbage-time situations for nine other games in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, after Rodgers forced a trade to the Jets, Love finally was given an opportunity to prepare for the season as a starter. With ten game appearances and only one start under his belt, Love took over the offense, starting all 17 games last year. In his first season as the starter under center, Love went 9-8 in the regular season, completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.

Green Bay’s 9-8 record under Love was good enough to earn them a playoff spot as the No. 7 seed, setting them up for a trip to the No. 2-seeded Cowboys in Super Wild Card weekend. Love played lights out, knocking out Dallas before going toe-to-toe and losing a three-point contest to the top-seeded 49ers.

That is the story of Love’s career: the lone season as a starter in the NFL. That was apparently enough for Green Bay to tie him with Burrow and Lawrence as the highest-paid players in NFL history. Burrow and Lawrence both are making $55MM per year on five-year contracts, so technically they are in line to receive more money than Love, but the Packers passer’s $220MM in four years matches them in annual value.

While this level of commitment may seem excessive for an 18-game starting sample (plus two postseason starts), with a contract year on the horizon, it would have been risky to allow Love to test free agency or potentially improve his bargaining position. The team is confident enough in Love’s potential and happy enough with Love’s production, that they deemed him worth what Lawrence was making, at least.

Both sides wanted this deal done by training camp, though it took a few extra days. As negotiations with the Packers had been failing, Love was staging a hold-in, attending training camp to avoid fines but participating minimally, if at all. After finally putting pen to paper, Love should be suited up for the team’s next training camp session.

The most important remaining ongoing contract negotiation is that of Cowboys passer Dak Prescott. Currently ranking 14th in average annual salary, Prescott’s regular-season success should set him up for a big payday, once he comes to terms with Dallas. The Tagovailoa and Love accords being completed will help set the table for Prescott, who possesses unique leverage in his latest Cowboys negotiations.

The Packers, though, have checked that item off the to-do list. Since trading for Brett Favre in 1992, watching him reign until 2007, letting 2005 first-round pick Rodgers take over in 2008 and reign until 2022, the Packers have enjoyed longevity at the quarterback position for 32 years. The question facing Love was whether or not he would allow Green Bay to continue that trend. Love will be 30 years old the next time he gets a chance to test free agency; that is, if the Packers don’t decide to push their longevity trend even further.

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