Jordan Love reports to Packers training camp without contract extension

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers’ quarterbacks, rookies and select veterans will report to Lambeau Field on Wednesday for the start of training camp. Starting quarterback Jordan Love will be there even without a contract extension, a source told the Packers on SI.

There is a race between the Packers and Love to agree to an extension before training camp begins on Monday with the first full-team practice. Whether Love would participate in a “real practice” without an extension is unknown or has not yet been decided.

Thankfully, the Packers still have nearly a week to negotiate an extension, something they would no doubt like to get done to avoid a major distraction at the start of a training camp that will be fraught with high expectations.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy had little to say on the subject on Tuesday after discussing the hefty $60.1 million profit in the fiscal year ended March 31.

“This is really Russ’ signature,” Murphy said this about Russ Ball, the team’s assistant general manager, director of football operations and contract negotiator.

That’s more than Love had to say. Love, who was attending a youth football camp in the Milwaukee suburb of River Hills on Tuesday, declined to answer a contract question, choosing instead to focus on the camp and his Hands of 10ve Foundation.

“In my hometown, Derek Carr and David Carr each ran a camp that I went to as a child,” Love told reporters“That impressed me from a young age. Those are two guys I looked up to who were from my hometown. I think that was awesome. That’s something I’m definitely looking forward to now that I’m in the same position as them. Hopefully we can do one in Green Bay, too.”

Due to a one-year contract extension last year, Love is under contract for the coming season. His base salary is $10.5 million, of which $5.5 million is guaranteed.

The signing bonus on a contract extension could be as much as ten times his base salary. While the risk of injury may be low during training camp when a quarterback is off-limits to defenders, it’s hard to imagine Love or his representatives taking even the slightest risk that could jeopardize a contract worth more than $200 million (over four years) or even $250 million (over five years).

Love will be in line for a huge payday for how well he performed last season while leading the Packers’ playoff run. He threw 18 touchdown passes and one interception as the Packers finished 6-2. He added three touchdown passes in his playoff debut in Dallas.

“I think that’s Brian’s credit,” Murphy said of general manager Brian Gutekunst, who made the controversial decision to draft Love in the first round in 2020. “He saw the potential in Jordan. Playing in the NFL, especially playing quarterback in the NFL, is not easy.”

“But it’s a credit to Jordan for how he persevered and kept getting better. At the end of the season he was obviously playing at a very high level.”

Given the exploding salary cap and the importance of the position, three quarterbacks signed huge contracts this offseason that helped drive up Love’s price.

After tearing his Achilles tendon, Kirk Cousins ​​signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons that paid him $45 million per season. Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions agreed to a contract extension worth $53 million per season. The real bombshell was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ contract extension with Trevor Lawrence worth $55 million per season. That contract — despite Lawrence having a disappointing third season — tied with Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow for the highest average salary in NFL history.

“Every thing affects the other, but I think we learned a long time ago that you need a quarterback,” Gutekunst said at the scouting combine. “That’s where it all starts and you work around it.”

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