Green Bay Packers sign Jordan Love to record-tying $222m contract extension
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has agreed to terms on a four-year, $220 million contract extension, a source familiar with the deal said Friday.
Love’s new deal includes a $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in new guarantees.
The new deal comes after Love led the NFL’s youngest team to a 10-9 record and a playoff berth in his first year as a starter last season while taking on the challenge of replacing four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the New York Jets in April 2023.
NFL Network first reported Love’s deal. ESPN first reported the signing bonus and guaranteed money.
News of Love’s extension came on the same day that Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa agreed to a four-year, $212.4 million extension. Detroit’s Jared Goff signed a four-year, $212 million extension with $170 million guaranteed, and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence agreed to a five-year, $275 million extension with $142 million guaranteed earlier in the offseason.
Love’s extension ties him with Lawrence and Joe Burrow for the highest average salary paid ($55M) in NFL history. However, with the NFL’s salary cap blooms this mid-seasonLove’s contract represents a smaller portion of the cap (21.5%) than when Burrow signed his extension with the Bengals under the terms of the old cap (25%) in 2023. Spotrac.
The 25-year-old Love did not work out with the Packers in training camp this week while contract talks were still ongoing, though he attended practices and participated in all other team activities. Love’s contract was set to expire at the end of next season.
“We’ve certainly come a long way, as far as we know he’s our franchise quarterback and we’re ready to move on,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said Monday while discussing the negotiations. “It’s not like we’re trying to make that decision. But at the same time, we want to put the best team around him that we can, and we want to make sure that there’s certainly a structure in place so that we can do what we need to do for our football team moving forward, not only this year but for years to come, which is very, very important.”
The Packers are banking on the promise Love showed last year during his late-season surge.
Green Bay had signed Love to a one-year 2023 contract extension that came with $13.5 million in guaranteed money and another $9 million in incentives. That deal gave the Packers time to evaluate Love as he entered his first season as the starter after Rodgers, a four-time MVP, was traded to the Jets.
Love responded by completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 4,159 yards with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season, while improving dramatically as the season progressed. He threw 21 touchdown passes with just one interception during a nine-game streak that culminated in a 48-32 upset of the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card playoff game. Love threw two second-half interceptions the following week in a 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The only other quarterbacks to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 32 touchdowns in their first season with multiple starts were Kurt Warner in 1999 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018. The only quarterbacks to throw for 32+ touchdown passes in their first season with multiple starts were Mahomes (50), Warner (41) and Daunte Culpepper (33 in 2000).
Love’s 32 touchdown passes rank second in the league, behind Dallas’ Dak Prescott (36).
Love had made just one career start before last season. After the Packers traded him out of Utah State with the 26th overall pick in the 2020 draft, Love spent his first three seasons as Rodgers’ backup.