With June 1st on the horizon, there are no excuses left.
Just one day away from the NFL’s June 1 cap-clearing date, it’s finally time for the Green Bay Packers to show us they’re serious about an extension with quarterback Jordan Love. Tomorrow, inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell’s $9.66 million cap hold will expire on the Packers’ roster — giving Green Bay around $28.3 million in cap space after the signing of their draft picks, per cap analyst Ken Ingalls .
The only real way for the Packers to create more cap space in the 2024 season is to release contract-year players who earned proven performance escalators or by extending defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who currently carries a $27.5 million cap hit . If we don’t see movement on either of those fronts, we can assume that Green Bay is going to try to keep Love’s 2024 season cap hit under that $28.3 million figure beyond his current $12.8 million cap hit.
General manager Brian Gutekunst has stated several times that the team wants to get a deal done with Love “the right way,” but hasn’t gone into details about what that means. The Packers are well known around the league as one of the stingiest teams in terms of guaranteed salary beyond the first season of a new deal. That is going to be tested, greatly, by Love’s demands.
For example, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who is generally considered an average to above average passer — but not an elite player, just received a four-year extension worth $212 million ($53 million per year) with $113.6 million fully guaranteed at signing. Unless the Packers plan on giving Love a signing bonus north of $100 million (Goff’s was $73 million), then they’re probably going to need to guarantee Love’s salary in Year 2 and/or Year 3 of his new deal. That has always been a massive issue for the Packers and a line in the sand that they haven’t wanted to cross. But what are they going to do, find a new quarterback? Good luck in a climate where six rookies just went off the board in the first 12 picks of April’s draft.
Something’s got to give and NFL quarterbacks aren’t going to magically stop signing Year 2 and 3 guaranteed salary anytime soon. Especially with Tua Tagovailoa, Trevor Lawrence and Dak Prescott up for new deals soon. Starting with June 1st, there’s no longer an excuse about future cap space becoming available around the corner. It’s time to get the Love deal done before prices rise even more.
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Justis Mosqueda wrote:
It is funny how so many people outside of the offices at 1265 are worried about Jordan's contract. Fear not. He is going to get his money. Looking at the top 5 cap hits
CAP HIT
Deshaun Watson CLE, QB$63,774,678
Dak Prescott DAL, QB$55,455,000
Russell Wilson DEN, QB$53,000,000
Matthew Stafford LAR, QB$49,500,000
Kyler Murray ARI, QB$49,118,177
If we look at AAV it's only slightly higher.
CONTRACT AAV
Joe Burrow CIN, QB$55,000,000
Jared Goff DET, QB$53,000,000
Justin Herbert LAC, QB$52,500,000
Lamar Jackson BAL, QB$52,000,000
Jalen Hurts PHI, QB$51,000,000
He's going to get $50 million a year. Minimum. Perhaps $55 mil. Waiting until after the season will only bump him to $55-60 million depending on how he plays. Which I can't help but think the Packer's FO will be interested to see if he can repeat the 2nd half of last year before they go top dollar. That's reasonable. Only someone that is unsure of his abilities would want to rush the deal before he gets a full season of elite play under his belt.
The Packers will have the money. They will structure it in such a way that makes fiscal sense.