The Packers are cornered, Jordan Love holds all the cards

Even though a deal between Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers is on the horizon, you have to wonder what the Packers’ front office was thinking. Giving Love a two-year deal instead of giving him the option for a fifth year last year seemed smart in some ways. However, it embarrassed the Packers when it came to negotiating a new contract this year.

No matter what general manager Brian Gutenkust does, he won’t be able to undercut Love on a new contract. The going rate for any starting quarterback worth his salt in this league is $40 million. A top-five passer in the game should make well over $50 million. I’d say Love should demand somewhere between $48 and $52 million, but I’m not part of his representation.

Green Bay may think they have some advantage in this situation, but not nearly as much as Love. He could finish the final season of his two-year contract and become an NFL free agent next winter. If he plays poorly, Green Bay doesn’t have to bring him back. No matter what happens, someone will pay Love more than the underrated value the Packers are trying to sneak past us right now.

There simply aren’t enough quality quarterbacks in the league and Love appears to be one of them.

Green Bay is hoping he’ll take less for long-term security. Love may want a five-year deal, but no one in their right mind, except Green Bay of course, is going to give him one. I think a four-year deal with an opt-out clause after the second year makes the most sense here. Love will get a salary that’s in the top 10-12, but the franchise paying him may not have to pay all of it if he turns out to be a bust.

The main reason Love has all the power here is: What are the Packers going to do? Let Sean Clifford start? I don’t want to! We’re so close to the end of the season that these kinds of machinations are rearing their ugly heads. The last thing the Packers want is for Love to play decently despite an expiring contract, leave, and then force the Packers to be in the quarterback market years earlier than expected.

Consider that this franchise has had two starting quarterbacks for nearly 30 years in Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay always does things differently, and that’s fine, but small family-run nonsense has less and less room in the increasingly corporate NFL with each paycheck. The dollars and cents have to be right, but you can’t be that different than everyone else.

Green Bay needs to understand that Love’s next contract starts at at least $40 million per year.