The Green Bay Packers have now reportedly agreed to terms with quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a very lucrative multi-year contract extension that should keep him tied to the team for at least the next three seasons. On the heels of that mega deal report surfacing on Tuesday, several fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are beginning to wonder if the Packers might be interested in trading backup quarterback Jordan Love this offseason. With that, let’s look at Love’s current situation with the Packers.
For starters, Love is currently under contract with the Packers through the 2023 season after being selected by them in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Utah. Love is set to earn just $1,735,770 in 2022 with that amount being fully guaranteed as well. That’s quite cheap and even with Rodgers now likely having a new money average of around $50 million. In short, the Packers, at least from a cap perspective, don’t need to be in any hurry when it comes to them potentially trading away Love.
Where it gets really interesting with Love is with his fifth-year option decision, which does not need to be made until next offseason. As things stand right now, and assuming Rodgers stays healthy and happy for at least a year, it’s hard to imagine the Packers picking up Loves fifth-year option next offseason, unless they do so to potentially trade him after making such a decision. Basically, if Love is to be traded by the Packers, such a deal would likely be made before the 2023 NFL Draft and thus before the deadline arrives for them to pick up his fifth-year option.
So, with the information above in hand, the Packers should not just give Love away this offseason and especially with their other two quarterbacks under contract currently being Danny Etling and Kurt Benkert. What should the Packers be hoping to get for Love, who has played all of 131 total offensive snaps in the NFL to date? Probably a second-round pick, or at worst, a third-round draft pick and a player.
If the Packers can’t get a good return for Love come the draft, they might as well hold on to him at least one more season and then trade him off for whatever they can get for him a year from now.
So, might the Steelers have any interest in trading for Love and thus giving the Packers a second-round pick to get him? It’s not unthinkable and especially if the steelers had at least a second-round grade on Love back in 2020. Trading for Love now would give the Steelers an opportunity to let him compete for the starting job this offseason. From there, the Steelers would then be able to pick up Loves fifth-year option for the 2024 season a year from now if he plays well in 2022.
Not knowing what the Steelers really thought of Love in 2020 makes a trade for him extremely hard to handicap. Additionally, it’s not like Love has a lot of NFL film to evaluate at this point and what he does have out there so far isn’t overly fantastic.
So, with Rodgers now locked back up with the Packers, I’m betting Green Bay will field a few calls asking about the status of Love in the near future and certainly before the 2022 NFL Draft gets underway. Will the Steelers be a team that calls? I won’t be a bit surprised if they do and even if it is just them doing their due diligence.
