Instead of picking up the fifth-year option on quarterback Jordan Love on Tuesday, the Green Bay Packers decided to give him a one-year extension that will keep him in the fold through the 2024 season.
It is a unique extension that is packed with incentives, and NFL insider Field Yates outlined the details.
In signing this deal, Jordan Love gets an extra $7.5M in cash this season.
The escalators are tied to playing-time, team wins, team stats and other parameters, which give him the chance to boost his base salary to $14.5M in 2024.
A unique deal given the unique circumstances. https://t.co/xVZ0hh4P2K
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 3, 2023
Love is now the starter in Green Bay after Aaron Rodgers was finally traded to the New York Jets last week, and it will be a brave new era indeed for the storied franchise, as it will be the first time since 1991 they haven’t had a big name under center.
The team also lost stud wide receiver Allen Lazard and veteran wideout Randall Cobb, both of whom joined Rodgers in New York, which means Love won’t have a whole lot of help in his first season as a starter.
He has played in 10 games over the last two seasons (he sat out his entire rookie campaign in 2020), and he has just three touchdown passes against three interceptions on 50 of 83 completed passes to his name so far.
At Utah State University, Love threw for 3,567 yards and 32 touchdowns as a sophomore and 3,402 yards and 20 touchdowns in his junior season.
The Packers almost certainly won’t make the playoffs next season, and so they will have to develop draft picks such as wideout Jayden Reed and tight end Luke Musgrave, both of whom they took in the second round of the draft just days ago.
It will be up to Love to prove he is worthy of being the starting quarterback of Wisconsin’s most beloved sports team.
