Although Aaron Rodgers famously needed to wait until his fourth season to become an NFL starter, the Packers had seen enough from the future Hall of Famer midway through that 2008 season to hand out an extension.
The Packers and Rodgers agreed on what became a wildly team-friendly deal on Oct. 31, 2008 — six years, $63.52MM — to set up the ascending quarterback entering his early prime. The Packers did not revisit the deal until the 2013 offseason, when Rodgers inked a five-year, $110MM pact. The initial extension holds a distinction as one of the better contracts a team has hammered out this century.
Before Week 1, Packers president Mark Murphy said it would likely take at least a half-season to begin to pinpoint Jordan Love‘s trajectory. The longtime Packers exec has since moved the goal posts a bit since those comments and followed GM Brian Gutekunst by indicating how pivotal this season’s second half will be to the franchise’s evaluation.
“It wouldn’t be fair to judge Jordan now since there are so many other factors that have contributed to the offense’s poor performance (e.g., dropped passes, penalties, mental errors),” Murphy said in a question-and-answer piece on Packers.com. “We should have a much better sense regarding Jordan at the end of the season.
“Young players often take time to find consistency, but we still very much believe in Jordan and are excited to see his continued development.”
Murphy also cited the experience around Rodgers when he took over, referencing receivers Donald Driver and Greg Jennings along with tackle Chad Clifton and running back Ryan Grant. While Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon represent experience, with the former residing as one of the better Packers skill-position players this century, this Green Bay edition lost David Bakhtiari for the season and played a stretch without Elgton Jenkins. The team also bid farewell to experienced wideouts Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb this offseason, seeing both team up with Rodgers with the Jets. The Packers’ receiving corps consists entirely of first- and second-year players, with rookies Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft comprising the team’s top tight end duo. The inexperience issue came up multiple times this offseason, but the Packers refrained from adding a veteran to help the young group during Love’s first starter season.
Although Murphy reminded the Packers had seen enough from Rodgers to extend that extension offer by this point in his first starter season, the veteran exec praised Love’s makeup and leadership qualities. Through eight games, the fourth-year passer has not impressed. Love ranks 25th in passer rating, 22nd in QBR, 25th in yards per attempt and last (among qualified passers) in completion percentage (59.6). An accurate outing against the Rams brought Love’s completion rate to that point, and the Packers are coming off a 20-3 win.
An organization expecting to strike gold on a third consecutive passer is obviously a longer-odds proposition. The Packers’ 1992 Brett Favre trade and 2005 Rodgers draft choice set them up like no team before it, at least in terms of duration. The team’s decision to trade up for Love in 2020 generated scrutiny, and with the move coming without Gutekunst notifying Rodgers, that selection led to the parties’ relationship fracturing. By not taking a player capable of helping immediately, the Packers also punted on the chance to strengthen a team that had ventured to the prior year’s NFC championship game.
Gutekunst certainly took a risk by trading up for Love, who led Division I-FBS in interceptions in 2019. The Packers will give the Utah State alum more time. In lieu of picking up Love’s fully guaranteed 2024 option, the Packers gave Rodgers’ successor a two-year deal worth $13.5MM. Escalators exist within the deal, but Love is currently tied to a $5.5MM base salary and $7.76MM cap number for 2024. That is a favorable rate for a starting quarterback beyond his four-year rookie deal, but Love still has plenty to prove in order to command another Packers extension.
