Getty Image / Ryan Kang
The Green Bay Packers surprised many last year with a strong end of the season that saw the team take the San Francisco 49ers to the brink in the NFC Divisional Round after beating the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. Part of that late-season improvement was the improved play of quarterback Jordan Love.
But, with the Packers set to give Jordan Love a potentially record-setting contract to the 25-year old, it’s fair to wonder if they’re going to be victims of a massive overpay.
Love, now 25, is not going to practice during training camp before they get a new deal done, but Packers execs made it clear that it isn’t a holdout. Rather, it’s insurance for Love to guard against potential injury as they get close to finalizing a contract.
As for that contract, it’s going to be big. Adam Schefter reports the contract should make Love a member of the $50 million annual salary club alongside the sport’s elite, with the biggest contract currently belonging to Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence at $55 million a year. It would not be a shock for the Utah State alum to exceed that number.
But, would that be a good deal for the Packers? Currently, he’s set to play on his fifth-year option that all first rounders have on their contract. He doesn’t want to play on that option because an injury could cost him hundreds of millions in guaranteed money, and that’s understandable.
But, should the Packers be willing to make a guy who has started just 19 regular season games and who struggled last year for a large part of the season as highly-paid as the elite quarterbacks in the game? It seems like that’s a little too big of a risk at this stage. There’s no doubt by the end of the season Love was playing very good football. But, wouldn’t the Packers want a larger sample size than 579 passing attempts to make their decision? As a comparison Trevor Lawrence, drafted a year after Love, has 1750 attempts.
Ultimately, the Packers have to make a gamble, as Love has a lot of the leverage here. If he were to sit out this year, their season would pretty much be lost. They could Franchise Tag him after next season, but I doubt he’d want to play on that, either. Still, this contract is going to come in with serious sticker shock.