How the Packers can work around their standards to get Jordan Love's contract extension done

At this point in negotiations, the Green Bay Packers pretty much know what they will have to pay to reach a long-term extension with Jordan Love. After all, the quarterback market dictates the total compensation.

ESPN's Adam Schefter said he expects Love will be one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in football history, if not the highest, so what could be delaying a deal? On his podcast "Scoop City," The Athletic's Dianna Russini mentioned language and structure as the two points holding an extension back. And this is aligned with what general manager Brian Gutekunst said on Monday.

"We're very down the road as far as we know he's our franchise quarterback and we're ready to move forward. It's not like we're trying to make that decision," Gutekunst said. "But at the same time, we want to put the best team around him we can and we want to make sure that there's certainly the structure of it so that we can do what we need to do for our football team moving forward, not only this year but in years to come is very, very important."

What does that mean?

The average per year number is easy to adjust, and that's probably why the external public would think it is simple to get a deal done. But each NFL team has a way of doing contracts, and they usually hate going out of their comfort zone to structure them.

The Green Bay Packers, for instance, don't tend to guarantee money beyond year 1. The signing bonus is everything that is guaranteed at signing. That happened for Xavier McKinney ($23 million) and Josh Jacobs ($12.5 million), the two big external free agent additions by the Packers this year. In practicality, it's nearly impossible to release them in year 2 because of the dead money, but there is no money left to be paid if Green Bay decides to do so.

But the quarterback market is different, and Jordan Love's agent David Mulugheta wants to make sure his client gets fair financial security.

Where the QB market is going

The two biggest quarterback contracts of this year show exactly how differently teams can operate and structure these deals, but at the same time, both show how the Packers will have to go out of their normal way of doing things.

Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars signed a five-year, $275 million extension, a $55 million yearly average. The total guarantees at signing are $142 million, almost three years — in addition to the season Lawrence already had. But only $37.5 million of these are in the form of a signing bonus.

Beyond the signing bonus, the fully guaranteed parts are the base salaries in 2024, 2025, and 2026, option bonuses in 2025 and 2026, plus $29 million of the 2027 compensation. The base salary is cheap through 2028, but the Jaguars added $35 million option bonuses each year.

With that approach, the Jaguars can delay the payments for future years — which also makes the contract tradable if necessary at some point. At the same time, the Jaguars will have the option to convert the option bonuses into signing bonuses later to spread the cap hits year after year.

Jared Goff, who was entering the last year of his deal with the Detroit Lions, signed a four-year, $212 million extension — $53 million yearly average. Goff got a $73 million signing bonus and $113.6 million guaranteed at signing.

However, it's a much more straight-forward structure, with only the signing bonus and base salaries — the base salaries in 2024, 2025, and $20 million in 2026 are also guaranteed.

Packers' track record

Even though the Packers don't like to add future guarantees, they have already broken the mold to pay quarterbacks. In 2018 and 2022, the team had to be creative to pay Aaron Rodgers.

In 2018, Rodgers got a $57.5 million signing bonus, and $79.2 million guaranteed at signing — $98.7 million in total guarantees, with some rolling as the contract would go on.

The most unusual and creative structure happened in 2022, when the Packers gave Rodgers a three-year, $150.8 million deal. It had a $40.8 million signing bonus, and $101.5 million fully guaranteed.

The Packers added several option bonuses, but it was fully guaranteed. The option was just to spread the money each year as a signing bonus or to convert it to a base salary, so everything would hit at once in the current year.

That was certainly unusual for Green Bay, but they had to do it this way to have flexibility to trade Rodgers later — the signing bonus is paid upfront and will hit the cap no matter what, while future payments can travel alongside the player to another team.

Possible structure

Based on how the different situations transpired, the 2018 Rodgers extension is a much better point of reference to what the Packers can do now with Jordan Love.

Let's say it's a five-year, $280 million extension ($56 million yearly average, the highest in NFL history). Working around the same percentages of the deal would mean a $120.1 million signing bonus, $165.5 million guaranteed at signing, and $206.2 million in total guarantees.

That structure, though, would mean a $27.4 million cap hit in 2024 — $14.645 million more than what it is right now. If the Packers reduce the signing bonus and add future guarantees as a roster or option bonus, or even as a future base salary, for example, it's possible to lower the 2024 cap hit. Moreover, paying $120.1 million right away is a tough pill to swallow considering how the Packers organization is managed.

Just like Brian Gutekunst said, it's a difficult negotiation that demands time and effort from both sides. It will eventually get done, but it's a complex set of circumstances to make it make sense for everyone.

Related: Adam Schefter gives a hint of what Jordan Love's contract with the Packers will look like