Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love played quality football down the stretch of the 2023 campaign. The Packers’ season ended on Saturday when they were defeated 24-21 by the San Francisco 49ers in a hard-fought divisional round game. Love now appears primed to sign a contract extension with the Packers this summer.
Love completed 21-of-34 passes for 194 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions in Saturday’s loss. In a dominant 48-32 wild-card victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Love threw for 272 yards and nearly as many touchdowns (3) as incompletions (5). Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst now swiftly turns his attention to improving the league's youngest roster as Matt LaFleur gears up for another Super Bowl run. Signing Love to a multi-year contract sits atop Gutekunst's to-do list.
Love played out the 2023 campaign on the fourth and final season of his original four-year rookie contract. Gutekunst previously signed Love to a one-year extension through 2024 worth up to $22.5 million with $13.5 million in guarantees. The remaining $9.5 million will be attainable through incentives. That move essentially replaced the fifth-year option on Love's rookie deal.
It represented shrewd business by Gutekunst, who understandably wasn't sold on Love's long-term projection entering the season. The revised contract only guaranteed Love $13.5 million in 2024, whereas the fifth-year option would have carried more than $20 million in guarantees. Now that Love has earned Gutekunst's trust, the two sides are expected to hold discussions over a multi-year extension this offseason. Love shouldn’t enter a contract season in 2024.
Expect Love’s representation to target the four-year, $160 million contract signed by Daniel Jones with the New York Giants last offseason as a starting point for negotiations. Like Love, Jones entered the 2022 season with his future hanging in the balance before delivering a career-best performance that, like the Packers this year, saw the Giants qualify for the playoffs and win a postseason game on the road. Jones parlayed that performance into a lucrative contract. Love should achieve the same.
Love could sign a four-year contract extension worth $168 million with $95 million in guarantees. Love would earn $42 million annually through such a proposal, making him the 10th highest-paid quarterback in the league yearly. It would qualify as fair given Love's heroic performances down the stretch as Green Bay’s starting quarterback. It’s worth noting that Love could quickly be bumped out of the top 10 by Kirk Cousins, Trevor Lawrence, and Dak Prescott, who are all likely to sign new contracts this offseason, relegating Love’s potential per-year salary near the middle of the pack of starting quarterbacks. Given the lack of multi-year success, it’s where Love belongs.
The Packers were once 3-6 and outside the playoff race. They then enjoyed two separate three-game winning streaks in November and December sandwiched in between two losses, including three consecutive wins to conclude their regular season. Love threw 15 touchdowns versus zero interceptions throughout those six victories.
Both Love and the Packers exceeded expectations throughout 2023. The campaign was supposed to be a reset year following Aaron Rodgers’ highly publicized departure. Instead, Green Bay found themselves in the Super Bowl hunt. Love proved himself as a legitimate starting quarterback. The Packers must now repay Love by committing significant dollars to him.
