Old Brian Gutekunst quote suggests Jordan Love's extension could be nearly complete by now

The Green Bay Packers have announced a big extension on Sunday night, but it wasn't exactly the deal everyone is waiting for. The team reached a three-year deal with defensive tackle Kenny Clark , extending him through 2027, but quarterback Jordan Love is yet to come to an agreement beyond this season.

However, a quote from general manager Brian Gutekunst from June indicates that something with Love might get finalized soon. When asked by Cheesehead TV about Kenny Clark's situation, Gutekunst mentioned how that negotiation was connected to the Love's one.

"We'd love to keep Kenny around. We'll see how that goes here moving forward," Gutekunst told Cheesehead TV. "That's something, as we go forward here, we're going to look to see if we can do. It's all got to fit, and certainly, Jordan's contract, getting that done and kind of knowing how it's structured and how it sits over the next few years will be important. But Kenny is still playing at a very high level. One of our team leaders. We'd certainly like to have him around for a number of years."

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On Sunday, Kenny Clark signed a three-year, $64 million contract — $21.3 million per season. That's on top of the $17 million he was already slated to make this season, so in total it's a four-year, $81 million contract for the defensive tackle.

Why it does matter

The cap space situation is not the big factor here. The Packers have $28.4 million in space according to Over the Cap , more than enough to make a Jordan Love extension official — it should add something around $8 million to this year's cap. And Kenny Clark's extension is expected to clear just $1.115 million in space in 2024.

But it still matters because those are two big contracts, and the Packers have to account for them not only in 2024, but for the long term as well. Green Bay is also paying big money to cornerback Jaire Alexander and edge rushers Rashan Gary and Preston Smith.

Even though the offense is relatively inexpensive for NFL standards, it would be difficult for the Packers to secure Kenny Clark an extension without knowing the details of what a Jordan Love deal will look like.

At this point, it's just a matter of time — and some details — for Jordan Love to sign his deal. It's obvious that both sides want to get the extension done , and Love is comfortable enough with how the talks are going that he reported to training camp on Sunday even without a deal in place.

Last week, ESPN's insider Jeremy Fowler said the Packers and Love weren't exactly close to a deal , but there have been positive conversations to eventually get the contract done.

Jordan Love is under contract through 2024, and he's making $11 million this year — this is based on a one-year extension he signed last year, replacing the fifth-year option to give Love more money right away, and to give the Packers more long-term cap flexibility and leverage.

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