07/26/24 09:11:00
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07/26 21:10 CDT Packers QB Love agrees to terms on 4-year contract extension
worth $220 million, AP source says
Packers QB Love agrees to terms on 4-year contract extension worth $220
million, AP source says
By STEVE MEGARGEE
AP Sports Writer
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has agreed to terms on a four-year
contract extension worth $220 million, a person familiar with the deal said
Friday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because
the deal has not been announced.
Love's new deal includes a $75 million signing bonus and $155 million in new
guarantees.
The new deal comes after Love led the NFL's youngest team to a 10-9 record and
playoff berth last season in his first year as a starter while stepping up to
the challenge of replacing four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers, who was traded to the
New York Jets in April 2023.
NFL Network first reported Love's deal. ESPN first reported the amount of the
signing bonus and guaranteed money.
Reports of Love's extension came the same day that Miami's Tua Tagovailoa
agreed on a four-year extension worth $212.4 million. Detroit's Jared Goff
signed a four-year, $212 million extension with $170 million guaranteed, and
Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence agreed to a five-year, $275 million extension
with $142 million guaranteed earlier in the offseason.
The 25-year-old Love hadn't been practicing with the Packers in training camp
this week while the contract talks were unresolved, though he had been
attending workouts and was participating in all other team activities. Love's
contract had been set to expire at the end of the upcoming season.
"Certainly we're very down the road as far as we know he's our franchise
quarterback and we're ready to move forward," general manager Brian Gutekunst
said Monday while discussing the negotiations. "It's not like we're trying to
make that decision. But at the same time, we want to put the best team around
him we can, and we want to make sure that 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 in years to come is very, very important."
The Packers are betting on the promise Love showed during his late-season surge
last year.
Green Bay had signed Love to a one-year extension in May 2023 that included
$13.5 million in guaranteed money with another $9 million in incentives. That
deal gave the Packers time to evaluate Love as he entered his first season as a
starter after Rodgers, a four-time MVP, was traded to the Jets.
Love responded by completing 64.2% of his passes for 4,159 yards with 32
touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season while improving dramatically as the
season wore on.
He threw 21 touchdown passes with only one interception during a nine-game
stretch that culminated with a 48-32 upset of the Dallas Cowboys in a wild-card
playoff game. Love did throw two second-half interceptions the following week
in a 24-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
The only other quarterbacks ever to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 32
touchdowns in their first season making multiple starts were Kurt Warner in
1999 and Patrick Mahomes in 2018. The only quarterbacks to throw more than 32
touchdown passes in their first season with multiple starts were Mahomes (50),
Warner (41) and Daunte Culpepper (33 in 2000).
Love's 32 touchdown passes ranked second in the league, behind Dallas' Dak
Prescott (36).
Love had made only one career start before last season. After the Packers
traded up to select him out of Utah State with the 26th overall pick in the
2020 draft, Love spent his first three seasons backing up Rodgers.
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