Everyone knew the Packers had a decision to make on Jordan Love’s fifth year option. What no one saw coming was the unique extension agreed to by the two sides.
Rarely in today’s NFL do you see a first round rookie accept an offer like Love. The young QB’s decision to agree to the contract was met with a fair amount of questioning and criticism.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wasn’t having any of it. The popular analyst vehemently defended the Packers new signal caller on an episode of Pro Football Talk Live on NBC Sports.
“You know I keep thinking about that contract that Jordan Love signed last week. And I see a lot of criticism online of Love for taking that deal. Folks, he was due to make 2.4 million this year with no security, no guarantees, no anything beyond this season. And now he’s getting 15 million guaranteed over the next two years. I mean cut the kids some slack he hasn’t earned any money!
We all want people to bet on themselves when it’s not our money. You, anyone out there who has criticized Jordan Love for taking this deal, you say no to $10 million that may never be there ever again. That may be gone for good.
I’m a big bird in the hand guy. Yeah, I like it as much as anyone when somebody bets on themselves, but it’s still gotta be a prudent decision and sometimes the best bet on yourself is to not make the bet.”
Florio’s cohost and former NFL quarterback Chris Simms referenced himself and his own path to agreed wholeheartedly.
“That’s right. I think he did the right thing…Cash in hand. I mean you get the money this year. You get a little sweetener there and you protect yourself. And I’m a guy here in a blue shirt [pointing to himself] to tell you yeah can do that [bet on your self] and something can go wrong. Here I am saying I wish I would’ve said yes to the $10 million. Right? So yeah you take that. And let’s not forget he plays good this year and he starts off next year playing well, down the line there will be a new contract and that’ll all be gone anyway. I’m with you all the way there, that was a smart decision by him.”
Florio wasn’t done. He continued to hammer down on behalf of Love while also supporting the organizations decision to offer the deal.
“Whatever Aaron Rodgers may wanna say about the front office of the Green Bay Packers, and there are plenty of points he has made effectively over the years, one thing he can’t say is that they failed to take care financially of a great quarterback. They will pay you if you are good. They paid him. They paid Brett Favre. They will pay Jordan Love if he becomes the guy they want him to be. That will not be an issue. That will not be a factor. This is insurance against the possibility that Love may not have it. Nobody knows. He doesn’t now. We don’t know, so he’s got $10 million or more just hanging there I think it be stupid to not take it.
All of these the decisions come back to what would you have your son do. Walk away from $10 million? When there’s no guarantee of anything beyond this year? I see that, and it irritates me.
It almost becomes an extension of the entertainment we derive from the sport. We derive entertainment from business deals around this sport and we’d like to see him put the Packers in check. Let’s see another Daniel Jones situation and we’ll have a great story to cover because what are they gonna do? Are they gonna franchising tag him or are they going to get a deal done? Or is somebody else going to swoop in? At a certain point, let’s set aside our own desires for the stories we want to cover and say, guy did the right thing for himself. Guy made the right decision. The guy’s getting paid money that the Packers didn’t have to pay. They were just faced with the choice of picking up a fifth year option or not. And yeah they used the leverage of not picking up the 5th year option to get him to take less than what the 5th year option would’ve been, but it’s a close thing to a win-win, and it gives the kids some protection.”
Florio hits the nail on the head here. The Packers decision to move off of Aaron Rodgers was as much about the direction they franchise to go as it was their belief in Love. They went 13-3 three years in a row with a high paid quarterback. He won back to back MVPs and they still couldn’t get a Super Bowl. If Rodgers was unhappy, it was time to change course.
Gutekunst is clearly attempting to build a strong roster around a reasonably priced quarterback. It’s a method that has succeeded in the NFL since the inception of the salary clap. Whether it be a journeyman quarterback like Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson or a superstar rookie on a rookie deal nearly everyone not named Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes who’s won a Super Bowl in the last 20+ years has been on an affordable contract.
This was a good deal for both sides. The Packers were smart to offer it and Love was smart to accept it. Win-win.
