The Green Bay Packers and quarterback Jordan Love have reached an agreement on a four-year, $220 million contract extension, league sources said Friday. The deal includes a record $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in new full guarantees, making Love the highest-paid NFL quarterback.
Love’s new deal ties him with Trevor Lawrence and Joe Burrow, who each make $55 million a year as the highest-paid quarterbacks on an annual basis. Those figures come on top of Dua Tagovailoa ($53.1 million per year), Jared Goff ($53 million per year), Justin Herbert ($52.5 million per year) and Lamar Jackson ($52 million per year).
Love’s “hold-in” agreement ends as the quarterback decided to skip practice until he receives a new contract. Love reported to camp on time and will participate in other team activities outside of practice.
Love participated in all offseason activities even without a new contract, but the quarterback’s representative informed the Packers shortly before the start of training camp that he would not practice.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said at the start of training camp.
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Love, 25, is set to enter the final year of his contract and is coming off a breakout first season in which he helped the Packers make a surprise divisional-round playoff appearance. He threw for 4,159 yards, 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 17 regular season games.
He now heads into his second season as the Packers’ starter after four years behind current New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Packers and Love agreed to a one-year contract extension before last season, tying the quarterback only to Green Bay for the rest of the coming year. That extension was worth $22.5 million, including $13.5 million fully guaranteed.
Why did Green Bay make this deal?
The Packers shocked the NFL when they traded up for Love in the 2020 draft with four years remaining on Rodgers’ contract. Love bided his time three years behind Rodgers, and the long game paid off for him and the organization that had faith in Gutkunst and their new franchise quarterback.
The Packers hope Love can follow in the footsteps of Brett Favre and Rodgers and give them three consecutive Hall of Fame quarterbacks, though Love still has a long way to go to get there after a breakout first year in which he was arguably the NFL’s best quarterback. The second half of the regular season.
In his first three years in the NFL, Love only started one game, a 9-week loss to the Chiefs in 2021 on short notice after Rodgers tested positive for COVID-19. Love struggled under Kansas City’s relentless pressure as the Packers scored just once in a 13-7 loss, but Gutkunst was impressed with Love’s ability to withstand adversity. In addition to seeing Love behind the scenes and in practice for three years, the Packers felt confident enough to hand the reins of the offense to the unproven 24-year-old.
Their decision paid off, and Green Bay appears to have once again struck gold in the form of a player now tied for the highest-paid player in NFL history. — Matt Schneidman, Packers staff writer
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