Green Bay Packers: Rodgers’ & Love’s Contracts Don’t Align Well

Aaron Rodgers’ current contract and Jordan Love’s rookie deal just do not align that well for the Green Bay Packers.

In the eyes of many – including myself – selecting Aaron Rodgers’ eventual replacement in this year’s draft seemed a year premature. And not only because the Green Bay Packers didn’t add a top-flight receiver or a defensive lineman, but because of Rodgers’ contract situation.

The most valuable contract in football is having a star quarterback on his rookie deal. The quarterback is the most important position in football, and in all of sports for that matter, so when a team can get high-end play from their young quarterback but not have to pay him as such, it allows them to spend money elsewhere and beef up the rest of the roster.

In recent years we’ve seen several teams have success using this approach. The Kansas City Chiefs just won a Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes. The Philadelphia Eagles won a Super Bowl with Carson Wentz on his rookie deal, and Jared Goff helped the Los Angeles Rams make a Super Bowl appearance as well.

However, when it comes to the Green Bay Packers and their newest quarterback Jordan Love, they aren’t going to have the same opportunity.

Despite what many are saying in the sports media, Rodgers isn’t going anywhere for a few seasons. Rodgers’ contract in 2020 comes with a dead cap hit of over $51 million if he were to be cut. In 2021, the Packers could save nearly $4.8 million in cap space but that comes at the expense of a $31.5 million dead cap hit. So not likely.

2022 presents the first realistic opportunity to move on from Rodgers if the Packers wanted to. In doing so they could save roughly $22 million in cap space, however, there is still a $17 million dead cap hit. Certainly not a small amount and not an easy decision by any means.

Then in 2023 – the final year of Rodgers’ deal – the dead cap hit drops to just $2.85 million. If Rodgers isn’t going to play out all four remaining years of this deal, moving on from him at this point makes the most sense from a financial standpoint.

So what does all of that mean for Jordan Love?

Well, it was reported that his rookie contract will be for four years, costing just $12.3 million and with a fifth-year team option. But barring an injury, there is the very real possibility that given Rodgers’ contract, Love spends the first three seasons on the bench. Now, I don’t mean that as a bad thing, Love needs to develop and of course, sitting behind Brett Favre benefited Rodgers.

However, from the Green Bay Packers’ perspective, that means that other than practices, some preseason games, and perhaps a few regular-season appearances here and there, they may only get one full season to fully evaluate Love as a starter before having to decide whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option. Which certainly isn’t going to be cheap.

And that’s if Rodgers doesn’t play out the life of his contract. If he is around for all four years, which is absolutely a possibility if he continues to perform at his current level, then Love’s rookie contract will be up and the Packers will once again have to decide whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option, but this time without having seen him play many significant snaps.

In the end with the quarterback position being as important as it is,  I can understand why GM Brian Gutekunst decided to select Jordan Love. If you have the opportunity to get the guy that you think can lead your franchise for a decade and a half, well, you go and get your guy.

With that said, Love’s rookie deal and Rodgers’ contract do not align well for the Packers to be able to maximize the rookie window, Green Bay could very well have to decide on Love’s future with minimal playing time, and on top of that, this pick doesn’t put Rodgers any closer to a Super Bowl.