The Green Bay Packers are one of the most unique franchises in all of professional sports for a variety of reasons. Publicly-owned team. Small market. Massive brand. Iconography out the wazoo. Their legendary coach's namesake on the Super Bowl trophy. You name it.
Quarterback stability is one of Green Bay's hallmarks, too. A legendary lineage of field generals and champions litter this organization's lore.
Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers are most recent among them. Now, it's Jordan Love's turn. He ought to be the Packers' QB as long as they'll have him. By many accounts, Love is actually underrated by the general public.
But would Green Bay ever consider trading him for the right price? A recent article by Bill Barnwell of ESPN fame explored this to some extent.
Packers QB Jordan Love's trade value projected at 3 first-round picks
Barnwell's piece revolved around every player from each team who was worthy of trading at least one first-round pick for. The premium for franchise QBs is on full display here for Love's three-first-rounder price tag.
Here was the breakdown Barnwell provided about Love's game:
"Love continues to play better than people think, although the end result has continued to be frustratingly short playoff runs. After struggling during his first half-season as a starter in 2023, Love led the NFL in Total QBR over the ensuing 2½ seasons of football. He's a successful playmaker who doesn't take many sacks, and while his picks are truly egregious as a result, his interception rate over the past three years is better than league average. Love is a really good player and has been without a reliable top wideout."
The start and end of this blurb sort of contradict themselves. Yes, Love has experienced some unfortunate, short playoff runs. His ill-advised interception in a Divisional Round loss to the 49ers cost him some early goodwill.
Let's not act like the Packers' latest shocking playoff collapse to the rival Bears on Wild Card Weekend was Love's fault, though. The defense and since-fired kicker Brandon McManus were far more to blame, but of course, quarterbacks take heat for a loss like that one no matter what.
Anyway, suffice it to say that the return for Love isn't good enough to justify a deal. Nor would it be worth the headache for Green Bay on a variety of levels.
First off, the Packers are so good at scouting and drafting that they never seem to bottom out. Love would also have some say-so on where he's moved if he ever were. He saw what happened when Rodgers got moved to the New York Jets. He wouldn't make that same mistake to go play for a totally chaotic organization.
There's also how this would come across to the Cheesehead fanbase. How could the front office possibly sell trading Love as a savvy move? Three lottery tickets in the draft? Really? Cool.
Love's contract is also structured in a way that it makes him untradeable before June 1, 2027. Unless he has some unforeseen collapse over the next two seasons, No. 10 will, in all likelihood, sign another lucrative contract to effectively become a Packer for life.
Maybe at some point Love gets fed up with how the organization handles its business. Rodgers didn't feel like he had enough help, and knew Love was waiting in the wings to start. Hence his trade request.
We're a long way away from Love getting to that point. He's only 27 years old. The prime of his career is ahead of him.
In Titletown, Love has two wideouts in Jayden Reed and Christian Watson locked into new contracts, along with a second-year first-round pick in Matthew Golden at his disposal. Oh, and a game-changer at tight end in Tucker Kraft, plus one of the game's top offensive play-callers at head coach in Matt LaFleur.
The Packers, on tradition-based pride alone, would have a tough time agreeing to a Love trade. He wouldn't, or shouldn't at this point, want to go anywhere else.
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