The Packers and starting quarterback Jordan Love are reportedly close to a contract extension, but Love will sit out all preseason activities until the deal is finalized.
On Monday, just before the Packers’ first training camp session, general manager Brian Gutekunst said that Love’s agents had notified him on Saturday night of their intentions prior to the deal’s completion.
“We totally get his point of view,” Gutekunst said.
Except for practice, Love was a punctual and engaged camper who participated in all of the other activities and meetings. Love had already completed all of the offseason activities, including the June minicamp that was required of him, in order to earn a $500,000 workout bonus.
Gutekunst said, “Yeah, I think so, but again, you never know,” when asked whether an extension could be completed in a few days. We are making every effort to complete the task. Meanwhile, I’m certain of one thing: we want the same thing.
Regarding quarterbacks, the Packers are not actively seeking to update their roster. According to coach Matt LaFleur, rookie Michael Pratt will get equal repetitions with second-year veteran Sean Clifford, who will take the first snaps with the starters. According to LaFleur, former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion will assist with the team’s passes during practice sessions since he was appointed as an assistant coach this summer.
Upon being asked how much longer they can go without bringing in a third quarterback, LaFleur said, “That’s a great question.” It goes without saying that we are crossing our fingers that this will be resolved in the near future. However, we will need to make that adjustment as we move along.
As the summer program began, LaFleur said he was not concerned about Love and the offense letting the momentum they had generated last season slip away.
The way he gets ready is something LaFleur is familiar with. “So, I’m not overly concerned about that.”
Love inked a mini-extension in May of last year, but he would have earned only $11 million this season if he hadn’t re-upped. His rookie contract was extended by one year, to the 2024 season, as a result of the transaction. This occurred because the club decided not to exercise the fifth-year option on the contract. Upon signing Love, Green Bay offered him a signing bonus of $8,788,655. He earned $1.01 million in basic pay during the previous season.
Now that he’s in the hunt for a monster deal, Love is almost certain to become the next member of the exclusive group of players to earn $50 million annually. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence were the most recent teams to trade quarterbacks in June. The deal’s guaranteed amount of $200 million is part of the $275 million total value over the five years. Lawrence and Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals are tied for the league’s highest average salary at $55 million per year.
During the season, Love threw for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Along with Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys, he was one of just four quarterbacks in 2023 to finish in the top ten in passing touchdowns, passing yards, and touchdowns to interceptions ratio.
The Packers went from a 2-5 start to a 9-8 finish and the playoffs thanks to his 17 starts. Even though Love passed for three touchdowns and no interceptions in their wild-card victory against the Dallas Cowboys, they lost in the divisional round to the San Francisco 49ers, with Love throwing an interception on the game-winning drive.
