The Green Bay Packers started training camp Monday with news that Jordan Love would be “holding in” as the team continues negotiating a new contract with its quarterback. Love was at practice, interacting with coaches and players and he participated in organized team activities this summer, but he and his agent don’t want to take any chances now.
Not risking an injury makes sense with what could be a record-setting new deal in the works. Quarterback contracts continue to break new salary barriers, with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence the most recent, signing a five-year, $275 million extension in June that included a $37.5 million signing bonus and $200 million guaranteed. Lawrence’s $55 million average annual value ties Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow for the highest in NFL history.
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Whether Love reaches Lawrence’s numbers remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say that agent David Mulugheta will at least get him in that range. The question that’s loomed is whether Love has proven he’s worth it. With only 18 career starts — and really only the last half of those being elite (his final 10 games last season, including the playoffs: 2,667 yards passing, 68.7 completion percentage, 21 touchdown passes, three interceptions, 108.2 QB rating, 7-3 record) — such a huge deal would seem to be a gamble for Green Bay.
Will the lack of sample size affect whether Love gets paid what he expects? That question was asked as part of The Athletic’s sixth annual agent poll, in which several agents were asked a variety of questions and given anonymity. Here’s how they view the situation. (The full agent poll will be published in August.)
One agent feels Love has done enough to prove he’s worth it.
“He’ll get paid,” the agent said. “Love is young and has been in that building for several years. He showed that the playoff stage wasn’t too big for him and never complained about sitting. I can’t see why they wouldn’t make him the highest-paid quarterback or close to it.”
Others weren’t so sure the sample size was enough.
“The Packers are in a tough spot,” one agent said. “We know Love sat behind (Aaron) Rodgers for years, but there are not many games to examine. The Packers should protect themselves with any new contract. Pretty scary.”
“My thought: Two years with an average of $45 million — fully guaranteed,” another agent suggested. “This gives the team more time to evaluate and Love a quick chance at another contract.”
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Another pointed to very different perspectives of the agent and team.
“As the agent, I’m fighting for $55 million annually,” the agent said, referencing the bar Lawrence and Burrow have set. “As the team, I haven’t seen enough. People were questioning Love not long ago.”
The consensus among others was that the reality is, teams have to suck it up and pay the market rate for a top quarterback.
“There’s a lack of exposure, starts and experience — none of that matters at this position,” one agent said. “No players have leverage like quarterbacks. Even if you might have an answer, you pay them.”
Another added: “What’s Plan B for the Packers? Green Bay has time on their side if needed with franchise tags. As for the agent mentality, the longer you wait, the more the team will pay.”
Another agent disagreed on the Packers having time on their side.
“I didn’t think he was the guy in the first half of last season,” the agent said. “The rest of the season, Love was impressive. This season, we’ll see what he is. The issue is that Green Bay might be unable to wait on a new contract. The agent should press now. The team should be worried this might be another Kyler Murray scenario where a team pays big too early.”
Put simply, another agent said regardless of the sample size, the massive deal is coming.
“The number of starts doesn’t matter from the player/agent angle,” the agent said. “Love will have the highest AAV once a deal gets done.”
(Photo: Dan Powers / USA Today)
