The Green Bay Packers have reportedly agreed to a very lucrative multi-year contract extension with quarterback Aaron Rodgers that should keep him with the team for at least the next three seasons. Following Tuesday’s mega-deal report, several Pittsburgh Steelers fans are starting to wonder if the Packers might be interested in trading backup quarterback Jordan Love this offseason. So let’s look at Love’s current situation with the Packers.
For starters, Love is currently under contract with the Packers for the 2023 season after they selected him in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft from Utah. In 2022, Love will earn just $1,735,770 and that amount will also be fully guaranteed. It’s pretty cheap, and even with Rogers now likely having a new median cash income of around $50 million. In short, the Packers, at least in terms of the cap, don’t need to rush when it comes to potentially trading Love.
What’s really interesting with Love is his fifth-year option decision that doesn’t have to be made until next offseason. That’s the way it is now, and assuming Rodgers stays healthy and happy for at least a year, it’s hard to imagine the Packers choosing the Loves option in their fifth year next offseason, unless they do so to potentially exchange it after making such a decision. Basically, if the Packers were to trade Love, such a deal would likely come before the 2023 NFL Draft and therefore before the deadline for them to take his fifth-year option.
So, with the above information in hand, the Packers shouldn’t just trade Love this offseason, especially with their other two contracted quarterbacks, who are currently Danny Etling and Kurt Benkert. What should the Packers hope to get for Love, who has played just 131 offensive snaps in the NFL to date? Likely a second-round pick or, at worst, a third-round pick and player.
If the Packers can’t get a good return on Love in the draft, they can keep him for at least one more season and then trade for whatever they can get for him a year from now.
So, could the Steelers be interested in trading for Lav and thus give the Packers a second round choice to get it? It’s unthinkable, especially if the Steelers had even a second love rating in 2020. A trade for love now would give the Steelers an opportunity to let him compete for a spot in the starting lineup this offseason. After that, the Steelers will be able to select Lovez’s fifth-year option for the 2024 season a year later if he performs well in 2022.
Just talk to a few NFL scouts about a potential asking price for Jordan Love. Most think the Packers can get him a second-round pick. Feeling is a talent and potential worthy of a roll of the dice.
— Jim Nagy (@JimNagy_SB) March 8, 2022
Not knowing what the Steelers really thought of Love in 2020 makes it extremely difficult to trade him. Also, Love doesn’t have many NFL films to rate at the moment, and what he does have isn’t too fantastic yet.
So now that Rodgers is locked up again with the Packers, I’m betting that Green Bay will return a few calls to ask about Love’s status in the near future, and certainly before the 2022 NFL Draft starts. Will the Steelers be the team that calls? I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if they do, and even if it’s just that they’re doing their due diligence.