Packers GM: Jordan Love 'Close' on Contract Extension; Won't Practice Until He Signs

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed quarterback Jordan Love is holding out until he gets a new contract.

"I feel we're close," Gutekunst said of the ongoing negotiations.

Love is due to earn a $10.5 million base salary and counts for $12.8 million against the salary cap for the 2024 season.

Both of those figures look like a bargain with how the 2020 first-round pick finished last year. He threw for 2,667 yards, 21 touchdowns and three interceptions across his last 10 regular-season starts before torching the Dallas Cowboys to the tune of 272 yards and three TDs in a Wild Card Round blowout.

At the time Love and the Packers agreed to his one-year extension, it was a bit of a hedge for both sides. The player got a little added financial security after Gutekunst raised doubt about whether his fifth-year option would be triggered. Green Bay, meanwhile, locked in the signal-caller for one more season without taking a big financial risk.

Now, however, the front office is discovering the downside of paying Love what is a below-market salary.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported Sunday that "there's a feeling that the ball is currently in the team's court" in terms of a new deal.

"We also explored whether the primary sticking point is money or structure," Florio wrote. "We're told it's more money than structure, but that a contract like the one Love and the Packers are negotiating has plenty of components."

An agreement feels inevitable because neither Love nor the Packers can afford to let the stalemate drag on for too long.

Green Bay has positioned the 25-year-old as the long-term solution at quarterback and has every reason to believe he can deliver. Setting up any situation in which it has to start over at the position is less than ideal after the transition from Aaron Rodgers to Love has been relatively seamless once the breakup with Rodgers happened.

Love, for his part, has to report to camp sooner or later because he won't want to jeopardize any game checks.

Especially with Gutekunst's optimistic tone, it doesn't sound like the Packers and Love are too far from a resolution.