Quarterback Jordan Love is refusing to participate in practice or preseason games for the Green Bay Packers until an agreement on a contract extension is reached.
Jordan Love isn’t holding out, but the Packers will still have to navigate the early portion of training camp without their star quarterback until a new deal is finalized.
The Green Bay Packers will have to navigate the early portion of training camp without Jordan Love—for however long that may be.
The 25-year-old quarterback, coming off of a stellar campaign that marked his first as the starter, won’t be practicing with the team until his contract extension is finalized. Love’s representatives informed general manager Brian Gutekunst of their decision Saturday night and he relayed the information to reporters during his inaugural press conference on Monday to commence the beginning of training camp.
Jordan Love before a play against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 24, 2023. (Photo: Getty)
“We’re working really hard to get that done,” Gutekunst said, “It’s really important for us. At the same time, the thing I have confidence in is we both want the same thing; we want Jordan here for a long time to give him that stability and stability for our group as well.”
It isn’t a hold-out, but rather a hold-in. Love is still actively participating in team meetings and will even be present at practice, however, he won’t be running any drills. That’s essentially a formality for Love—he’s still doing his part off of the field, but he isn’t putting his body at risk without a deal being secured. As worrisome as it may be for some, it’s the wisest avenue for both Love and the Packers.
For what it’s worth, Gutekunst said that both sides are close to an agreement and expressed optimism that it could be done in the coming days. The deal is expected to hover between $55 and $60 million dollars in average annual value, officially placing Love in the upper echelon of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league—potentially even the highest. He could surpass the $55 million per year that Joe Burrow and, as of last month, Trevor Lawrence both currently sit at.
While details of the mega-deal are being ironed out, Gutekunst didn’t mince words: Love is the Packers’ long-term answer at quarterback.
“We’re very down the road as far as we know that he’s out franchise quarterback and we’re ready to move forward,” said Gutekunst. “At the same time, we want to put the best team around him that we can and make sure there’s certainly the structure of it 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.
“This is part of it. Not unexpected. We’ll work to get it done and hopefully he won’t miss too much time. We’ve got a lot of work to do and we have a very good football team but we have to come together as a team and he’s a big part of that, so him being out there is important for us.”
For now, the Packers will operate with Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt splitting first-team reps during practice. There’s no third quarterback on the roster with Love absent, however, LaFleur and offensive assistant Sean Mannion—both former quarterbacks—could provide aid in a pinch.
Jordan Love and the Packers dismantled the Cowboys 48-32 in Dallas for their first playoff win. (Photo: Getty)
Love and co. are on the heels of a 9-8 campaign that saw the youngest team in league history rattle off seven wins in their final 10 regular-season games to secure the NFC’s No. 7 seed. They strolled into AT&T Stadium and dismantled the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round, instilling plausible belief in the masses that they’d be able to topple the mighty San Francisco 49ers the following week—and they came close.
With one minute left in the game and an opportunity to either position Anders Carlson for a game-tying field goal or go for all the marbles and win the game with a touchdown, Love committed the same error that had cost the Packers multiple times early in the year: he threw an interception. Not just any interception, either—he committed the cardinal sin of throwing across his body into what appeared to be quadruple coverage, intending to fit the ball into what also appeared to be a nonexistent window where he figured Christian Watson would be. Instead, Dre Greenlaw snagged his second interception of the night.
Over a 12-game span, starting with the Nov. 5 win over the Los Angeles Rams and ending with the loss to the 49ers, Love completed 68.5 percent of his passes for 3,132 yards, 26 touchdowns, five interceptions and a 108.3 passer rating. He was essentially at or near the top of every statistical passing category.
Rather than pick up Love’s fifth-year option the previous spring, the Packers signed him to a one-year contract extension worth $22.5 million dollars that included $13.5 million dollars guaranteed.
Zachary Jacobson is the Editor-in-Chief of Packer Report. He is entering his 10th season covering the Green Bay Packers. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. Follow him on Twitter @zacobson or contact him via email at [email protected]
