How Jaguars’ Lawrence could impact what Packers pay Love

During a recent interview with ESPN Milwaukee, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter explained how Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence receiving a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M with $142M fully guaranteed at signing will impact what the Green Bay Packers will have to offer signal-caller Jordan Love this summer.

“That deal doesn’t help Green Bay. That deal helps Jordan Love,” Schefter said about the Lawrence agreement, as shared by Suzanne Halliburton of On3. “Because the average comes in at $55M and, breaking news, I don’t believe Jordan Love is taking less than Trevor Lawrence. Just don’t think he’s doing it.”

Back in spring 2023, the Packers essentially replaced the fifth-year option attached to Love’s rookie contract with a short-term extension. In his first season serving as Green Bay’s full-time QB1, Love guided the club to a playoff victory at the Dallas Cowboys and then nearly defeated the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in the divisional round of the postseason tournament.

“So if the (Love) deal had gotten done a few weeks ago, I could’ve seen that number being $52M, $53M, and now I see that number being north of $55M,” Schefter continued. “Not much north of, but north of $55M. And by the way, the way the deal is also structured and set up is not favorable to the Green Bay Packers and what they were hoping to do.”

The Packers don’t have to match such a contract request before September. Love is signed through the upcoming season, and Green Bay can retain his rights for at least 2025 via the franchise tag. Of course, the risk with such a decision is that Love will produce yet another impressive campaign en route to becoming even more expensive.

“To me, that was not a win for the Packers that this deal came down,” Schefter added about how Lawrence’s contract likely has Love’s camp seeing dollar signs. “We’ll see how it works out, but Jordan Love is in a favorable spot.”

For a piece updated early Thursday morning, former agent and current CBS Sports NFL contracts and salary cap expert Joel Corry noted that Love has a realistic chance “of surpassing Lawrence’s deal” assuming Green Bay wants to lock the 2020 first-round draft pick down sooner rather than later. In short, the quarterback market resetting each offseason is a trend that will continue for years to come.