When it comes to quarterback contracts, the next domino has fallen. The Packers have struck an agreement to extend quarterback Jordan Love on a four-year, $220 million contract, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. Love now shares the record for the highest yearly average pay in NFL history thanks to the deal.
An NFL record $75MM signing bonus is scheduled to be awarded to the quarterback for the Packers. This year, Jared Goff’s $73 million signing bonus is the next-closest amount. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Love’s new contract has additional guarantees worth $155 million. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, Love will get $79MM in the first year of the contract and $175MM over the next three years. With that, Goff’s three-year total is $10MM higher.
With Love’s extension announced only hours after the Dolphins signed Tua Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4 million contract, this concludes a crucial day for NFL contracts. Tagovailoa and Love signed four-year contracts, in contrast to Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Trevor Lawrence during the previous twelve months. The 2020 draftees will be in a better position than the Chargers, Bengals, and Jaguars passers who inked five-year contracts to potentially profit from third-year NFL agreements sooner. The sides worked out an arrangement that will keep Love in Green Bay through the 2028 season after a report on Friday afternoon suggested that the accord was being hampered by the contract structure.
It’s uncommon to witness Love’s route to his large salary in the NFL. Love was the only quarterback selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft to not start at least half of the season in his rookie campaign. Love, in fact, was the only first-round selection that year who did not play in a single game during his rookie year. That season, he was a victim of the Packers’ well-known tactic of selecting a quarterback prospect in the draft and stashing him while their long-serving veteran plays out his contract in Green Bay.
Love redshirted his first year and replaced Aaron Rodgers, who tested positive for COVID-19, in 2021 to make his first career start. He had a mediocre game against the Chiefs and made nine more appearances in 2021 and 2022, largely in garbage time circumstances. Love was finally able to get ready for the season as a starter in 2023 after Rodgers forced a trade to the Jets. Love took over the offense last year, starting all 17 games despite having just played in ten games and one start. Love was 9-8 in the regular season in his debut year as the starting quarterback under center, finishing 64.2 percent of his throws for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
Under Love, Green Bay’s 9-8 record was sufficient to secure a playoff berth as the No. 7 seed, putting them on the road to face the No. 2-seeded Cowboys on Super Wild Card weekend. Love had a fantastic game, taking off Dallas before facing the top-seeded 49ers point-for-point in a three-point game.
That is Love’s career narrative—his one and only NFL season as a starter. Green Bay evidently thought it was sufficient to tie him as the highest-paid player in NFL history, along with Burrow and Lawrence. Though theoretically Burrow and Lawrence are set to earn more than Love given their five-year contracts at $55MM each, the Packers quarterback’s $220MM over four years matches their yearly value.
With a contract year approaching and an 18-game starting sample (plus two postseason starts), this degree of commitment might seem excessive, but it would have been dangerous to let Love test free agency or perhaps strengthen his negotiating position. The team thought Love was worth at least what Lawrence was making since they were sufficiently satisfied with Love’s performance and confidence in Love’s potential.
Even though it took a few more days, both parties wanted this agreement completed by training camp. Love was staging a hold-in, attending training camp to avoid fines but taking part minimally, if at all, as talks with the Packers had been going nowhere. Love ought to be ready for the team’s upcoming training camp after finally signing his contract.
But the Packers have crossed that task off their list. The Packers have had success at quarterback for 32 years, starting with 2005 first-round choice Aaron Rodgers in 2008 and continuing through his reign until 2022. This began with the trade for Brett Favre in 1992. Love had to decide if he would permit Green Bay to carry on with that pattern. If the Packers don’t choose to continue their history of long-term success, Love will be thirty years old the next time he has the opportunity to test free agency.
