After one season as the starter, the Green Bay Packers made the decision to commit to Jordan Love as their franchise quarterback.
The team signed Love to a four-year, $220 million extension last offseason. While that seemed like a promising move at the time, some are now questioning the decision following Love’s 2024 season.
“The picture for Love got complicated when the Packers had to play Malik Willis,” Fox Sports’ Henry McKenna wrote. “The backup won both his starts by playing conservative, turnover-free football — the opposite of the way Love plays. The Packers invested in Love after one good season as a starter. The risk was what we saw in 2024.
“There’s a good chance he’ll be healthier and more consistent in 2025. He should develop. He should evolve. He should convert more of his talent into wins. But we’ve seen the careers of so many talented passers go awry at this phase. There’s a real chance Love continues to put the ball in harm’s way — and, in turn, occasionally interfere with the Packers’ playoff hopes.”
Ultimately, McKenna labeled Love overpaid. But the quarterback is now firing back at those suggesting he regressed last season.
“What is a step back, is what I’d ask,” Love said, via Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com. “Everybody has different opinions, things like that. You’ve got to block that stuff out. It’s all about the goals of the team. At the end of the day, I’d say we won more games than we did the year before. So that’s why I ask people, what is a step back? Everybody has opinions and things like that, you try to block that out and just focus on doing me, being the best player I can be and go forward. At the end of the day, personal stats and things like that, that’s all in the back. You’ve got to focus on goals of the team first and foremost.”
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Love went 9-6 as a starter last year compared to 9-8 in 2023. Naturally, missing two games led to a statistical difference — something head coach Matt LaFleur noted. However, Love’s passer rating and yards per attempt actually improved.
Season three for Love will be one to monitor closely, especially with the Packers once again facing one of the NFL’s toughest divisions in the NFC North.