Analyst: Packers in ‘Rookie Contract Limbo’ With Jordan Love

NFL analyst Mike Renner placed the NFL's 32 starting quarterbacks into eight tiers. Where is Packers quarterback Jordan Love on the pecking order?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – A monumental decision must be made with Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love. Perhaps not right away, but they must figure out if Love is the man capable of being the next franchise quarterback or if they must find a better option.

“Obviously, there will be time for that,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said recently.

With a franchise quarterback, a team automatically is a prime Super Bowl contender, no matter what other warts are on the roster. Just look at the top 10 in the latest Super Bowl odds at FanDuel Sportsbook. All of those teams have a quarterback delivering high-level play.

And then there’s everyone else.

Former Pro Football Focus analyst Mike Renner placed the NFL’s 32 starting quarterbacks into eight tiers for The Messenger.

Renner put eight quarterbacks in his top tier of “Call Me In a Decade.” As Renner put it, this is the tier that “everyone so desperately wants” because an elite quarterback means what promises to be sustained prosperity. The Packers, obviously, had that for years with Aaron Rodgers.

Among the quarterbacks in Renner’s top tier are Justin Herbert, who will lead the Los Angeles Chargers into Lambeau Field on Sunday, and reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes, who will lead the Kansas City Chiefs into Lambeau in two weeks.

Six quarterbacks are in his second tier, including Jared Goff, whose Detroit Lions will host the Packers on Thanksgiving.

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What about Love? He’s in Renner’s fifth tier of “Rookie Contract Limbo.” Players in that group are:

- Cheap, which means financial resources to distribute to other positions.

- Not worthy of a contract extension at this point.

- Not good enough for their team to ignore a potential upgrade in the upcoming draft.

Following the offseason trade of Rodgers, the Packers gave Love a one-year contract extension for 2024 that provided more guaranteed money right away at the trade-off of a deal worth much less money than he would have earned under the fifth-year option.

Love is “nowhere near” being the primary reason for the team’s 3-6 start, Renner wrote, but he also hasn’t been consistent enough and he hasn’t come through in four must-score drives in road losses.

There have been signs of progress, with Love going 12-of-13 during a sharp second half in a victory over the Rams and throwing for a career-high 289 yards in the loss to the Steelers.

If that growth continues, Love could earn that big second contract. If the inconsistent play returns and the losses keep piling up, the Packers could be in position to draft his successor – who also would reset the financial clock but also be an acknowledgement that Gutekunst made an epic mistake in trading up for Love rather than adding an instant-impact player to a team that was coming off an appearance in the NFC Championship Game.

“We have a lot of faith in Jordan,” Gutekunst said. “We’ve got to get the offense playing better and, when that does, those things will take of themselves.”

Click here for Renner’s full story.

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