Packers make solid, but imperfect decision in Jordan Love’s contract extension structure

The Green Bay Packers have finally completed an unusual path to the top mountain of quarterback salary. Four years after surprisingly taking Jordan Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, despite having Aaron Rodgers under contract for four years at that time, the team reached a long-term, four-year extension with the young passer that will keep him in Green Bay through 2028. He's now tied with Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence as the highest-paid player in NFL history ($55 million per year).

The deal includes a $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in guarantees.

By the end of last season, you could see how much the organization valued Love. Head coach Matt Lafleur praised the quarterback's attitude and performance.

"He's a dude," LaFleur said after the playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys. "He's a real dude."

Even before that, after the win over the Minnesota Vikings in week 17, the respect Love gained was obvious.

"I can't say enough great things about him," LaFleur mentioned. "Just his ability to hang in there versus some tough looks. Drifting away from pressure. Putting the ball in play. Allowing his guys to go make plays. I think he's playing at an incredibly high level. Super happy for him because he’s put in a ton of work to get to this point."

Good and bad

The confidence they have in Love is why the deal is so good for the Packers. For Green Bay, though, it's still a missed opportunity to exploit the frequent cap rising with a longer contract. It's still fine, because the four-year extension gives them five years of control over the player, with two realistic franchise tags on the table after that. But there's a sense it could have been better.

The 2024 salary cap is much higher than anyone had projected, a $30 million increase over the 2023 number. There is an expectation that these numbers will keep growing year after year, and having your quarterback under contract for several seasons would be the smartest way to still be able to build a strong team around him, despite Love being one of highest-paid players in the NFL.

Love will potentially look for a new deal in three years (or four at the latest). And based on how the quarterback market has gone, it can easily surpass $70 million, $75 million by then — if not more.

For the Packers, for this exact reason, a longer deal would have been better — it's something Athletes First, which represents Love and Miami Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa, probably pushed.

Outcome

The Packers should be happy that Jordan Love is a success story and that he will be in Green Bay for the prime of his career. And while the new contract doesn't create a roster-building advantage a longer deal would, it still allows general manager Brian Gutekunst to build a strong supporting cast.

The length of Love's contract grants the Packers the ability to spread the signing bonus through five years without the need to add a void year, which is a relevant outcome. It might still limit the team's cap flexibility in years 3 and 4 of the deal, but it's possible to circumvent that if the Packers are convinced Love is the franchise player of the future.

It would certainly make more sense for Green Bay to make a longer deal. At the same time, it's understandable why Jordan Love and his agents wouldn't want that. At the end of the day, it's a fair contract structure that makes sense for both sides. And this is exactly how Green Bay wants to treat the face of the franchise.

It's still possible to build a strong team around a high-priced Jordan Love. But brace yourselves for a new, and bigger, extension a few years down the road.

Related: Packers and Jordan Love reach a four-year contract extension