At first I was surprised when I saw what the Jaguars paid for Trevor Lawrence. I mean, giving $55 million to a guy that has been to the playoffs just once in three years is pretty steep.
Not to mention, that $55 million average salary is now tied with Joe Burrow as the richest player in the NFL.
So the ante keeps rising with quarterbacks. Now it’s Lawrence and Burrow at $55 million, then Jared Goff at $53 million, followed by Justin Herbert at $52.5 million and then Lamar Jackson at $52 million.
The obvious question should be, where is Patrick Mahomes in all this? He is tied for ninth with Kirk Cousins at $45 million.
Now all this evidence will eventually lead to Jordan Love. He has one season as a starting quarterback under his belt. Do the Packers give him a piecemeal contract now and risk upsetting him or do they back the Brinks truck up to his house now?
I have no doubt that the Packers and Love want this deal done by the start of training camp on July 22.
And the reason is simple. If you don’t have a very good quarterback, you don’t have a chance of going deep into the playoffs. And if you think you have that guy, you don’t have a choice but to pay him.
So you can think that the Packers are stuck. But really, they aren’t. Both Green Bay and Love know that he’s going to get paid. The question is when will the Packers be confident enough to sign that check?
Making a long-term investment based on the short term is a huge gamble. But the Packers and the rest of the NFL were very impressed with Green Bay going 6-2 down the stretch as Love threw 18 touchdown passes to just one pick.
That momentum continued in the playoffs. The Cowboys were 7-point favorites in the Wild Card Round. Love was nearly flawless on the road as he completed over 76 percent of his passes, threw for 272 yards with three touchdowns and a passer rating of 157.2.
Love, 25, is clearly on a magical ride that nobody has ever predicted. I still don’t know what kind of quarterback he can become. Will he project to be the cerebral quarterback like Aaron Rodgers or the spirited gunslinger like Brett Favre? I can remember so many Bears, Lions and Vikings fans chuckling last offseason about how much praise Love received for his poise.
Well, the joke ultimately turned out to be on them. Love’s poise and leadership are light years beyond his age. And for all the adversity last year about the Rodgers’ saga, Love handled it beautifully.
That’s the guy that you want playing the most important position in all of sports. And that’s why the Packers shouldn’t nickel and dime him.
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Cory Jennerjohn is a graduate from UW-Oshkosh and has been in sports media for over 15 years. He was a co-host on “Clubhouse Live” and has also done various radio and TV work as well. He has written for newspapers, magazines and websites. He currently is a columnist for CHTV and also does various podcasts. He recently earned his Masters degree from the University of Iowa. He can be found on Twitter: @Coryjennerjohn
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