The downstream effects of Jalen Hurts' megadeal touch Packers

The Packers won't pay a lot for Jordan Love in 2023. But if he plays well, he will have more leverage at the bargaining table thanks to Jalen Hurts.

Though the will-they-or-won't-they drama between the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and Aaron Rodgers drags into its second month, some major signal-caller news did unfold this week. On Monday, the Philadelphia Eagles inked Jalen Hurts, the 2020 second-round pick who developed into a second-team All-Pro QB in his third season, to a five-year, $255 million extension. The deal makes Hurts the highest-paid player in NFL history on an annual basis, eclipsing the contract Rodgers signed just over a year ago.

The extension touches every franchise in one way or another. For teams like the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers who will soon have to hammer out their own megadeals for Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, respectively, the Hurts contract has near-immediate consequences. Other clubs like the Packers might not have a quarterback to sign quite as soon, but they will still feel the downstream effects at some point.

Though Rodgers remains officially on the roster, Green Bay has a clearly defined path for the upcoming season. Jordan Love, the quarterback the team traded up in the first round to acquire in 2020, will inherit the offensive reins come Week 1. To date, Love has attempted just 83 career passes and played less than 200 snaps, most of which came in garbage time or after Rodgers went down with an injury. Though the Packers have expressed confidence in their new starter, Love remains largely an unknown at this stage.

So while Love could theoretically perform well enough to land his own multiyear extension, he must deliver proof of concept first. That could realistically take more than just a single season for the Packers to decipher and force this issue down the road.

But even in such a scenario, the Hurts news will meaningfully affect Love and the Packers. Between now and May 1, the team must decide whether to pick up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract worth approximately $20.3 million guaranteed. Should Love falter, that figure will look like a lead weight on Green Bay's 2024 books. However, if he plays at least well enough to merit another season, the option buys the front office some valuable runway to hammer out a more cap-friendly agreement.

So how does Hurts factor into this situation? If the Packers decline the fifth-year option and Love balls out, he will enter next offseason as an unrestricted free agent. That means the team will either have to negotiate under circumstances that favor the quarterback or use the franchise tag to keep him off the market. Because Hurts' deal raised the bar for the position, that tag will cost more accordingly.