Getty Quarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers warms up prior to a game against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field on January 8, 2023 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
The details for the Green Bay Packers‘ fifth-year option on quarterback Jordan Love just became official.
To clarify, the Packers have not yet exercised their option on the backup QB, who was drafted in first round back in 2020 and will enter his fourth NFL season in 2023. However, the NFL clarified exactly what a fifth year for Love will cost Green Bay, and it isn’t going to be cheap.
Albert Breer of MMQB shared the sliding scale of prices for the top of the 2020 draft class via his Twitter account on Wednesday, February 8.
Fifth-year option totals for 2020 first-round picks have been distributed to teams. Here are the numbers for the four different categories—deadline to pick up the options is the week after the draft.
“Fifth-year option totals for 2020 first-round picks have been distributed to teams,” Breer wrote. “Here are the numbers for the four different categories — deadline to pick up the options is the week after the draft.”
As part of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), franchises sign first-round picks to four-year contracts coming out of the draft and reserve the right to lock said players up for a fifth season before either extending them on a new contract (though extensions are allowed to be signed years before) or applying the use of the franchise tag, which keeps the player under contract for an extra year.
Fifth-year prices vary by position and based on what a player has accomplished, relying mostly on any Pro-Bowl selections and how much playing time the player in question has on his resumé.
As Love has played only sparingly behind four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers since entering the league, he falls into category four, which is the cheapest of all. Even still, according to numbers provided by the league via Breer on Wednesday, the Packers will have to pay Love $20,272,000 if they want to keep him with the franchise through 2024.
Packers Have Previously Indicated Intention to Keep QB Jordan Love
GettyQuarterback Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers walks to the locker room after a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on November 27, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
As noted above, the team has until early May to make a final call on that decision. But general manager Brian Gutekunst indicated in early December that while it would have been nice for Love to get more playing time down the stretch of the regular season, Packers brass have already seen enough to keep the young QB in the fold.
“I think that it would be really good for him — the growth that you need to go through, seeing things for the first time, making those mistakes that you need to make,” Gutekunst said. “But I think from our end of it, we’ve seen what we need to see.”
It has been widely reported that Love will push for a trade out of Green Bay if he isn’t given the keys to the franchise this year. He can push all he likes but has little leverage to make anything actually happen — far less than does his counterpart Rodgers, who carries with him a massive contract and the ever-present threat of retirement, which he can use to force the Packers’ hand in one direction or another.
That said, it makes little sense to keep Love around in Green Bay if the team doesn’t plan to play him, especially considering that $20 million is an exorbitant cost for a backup signal caller. Whether Love is the starter in game one of next season is still definitely up in the air, but whether the Packers intend to make him the starter sooner than later appears a question that has already been answered — and that answer is “yes,” assuming Gutekunst wasn’t being dishonest about the team’s intentions for Love in order to work toward some convoluted and secretive purpose.
Aaron Rodgers’ Retirement Decision Next Domino to Fall in Green Bay
GettyQuarterback Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers throws a pass during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on December 25, 2022 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
This offseason will be a busy and potentially tumultuous time in Green Bay, as each of the previous two offseasons have been.
The first domino that must fall is Rodgers’ decision on whether he wants to play football in 2023. The quarterback said that decision will come at some point after the Super Bowl, which is scheduled for Sunday, February 12.
Once the Super Bowl is complete, Rodgers intends to embark on a “darkness retreat,” during which he will spend four entire days and nights in complete darkness and solitude. Rodgers told The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday that he will undertake this quasi quest shortly after the NFL’s final game, adding that he expects the experience to weigh heavily into his decision making.
“Just to be able to contemplate all things [about] my future and then make a decision that I feel like is best for me moving forward in the highest interest in my happiness,” Rodgers said.
If Rodgers does return, discussions will then begin within the Packers organization about whether to trade him, with Rodgers’ wishes expected to be factored into the process. If Green Bay does move on from the quarterback, the New York Jets and the Las Vegas Raiders will be among the top contenders for his services heading into 2023.