Packers GM sets deadline for Jordan Love contract negotiations

Jordan Love's contract extension is coming this summer, and the Green Bay Packers want it done sooner rather than later.

Love has a year left on his current deal, but after a breakout debut season as the Packers' starter, it's in the best interest of both sides to get an extension signed this summer. Having uncertainty over Love's future would create a distraction. That's why we can expect the team to pay Love soon.

Come on, this is the Green Bay Packers, not the Dallas Cowboys. Green Bay actually pays its best players.

A new deal isn't easy, though. Jared Goff increased Love's asking price by signing an extension with the Detroit Lions worth $53 million annually. Any hopes of signing Love to a deal worth $50 million or less went up in smoke when the Goff news broke.

Love will almost certainly land a deal in a similar range, potentially even higher, and Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst provided an update on the timeline for when it will get done.

Packers want to get Jordan Love deal done before training camp

Gutekunst was a guest on 97.3 The Game, and he was asked the million-dollar question. More like, the $53 million question. When will the Love deal get done?

"We're in those conversations right now," said Gutekunst. "Both parties want the same thing. We'd like to get this done before training camp, for sure."

That's absolutely right. Getting the deal done before training camp is 100 percent the right move. Any longer, and it becomes a distraction.

If Love arrives to the first practice of camp without a new deal, the opening question at his first press conference won't be about preparations for the new season or how the offense is looking. It will be about the uncertainty over his Packers future. And it won't get any easier the longer it goes.

Love's team will want similar compensation to the deal Goff signed, and understandably so. The Packers know they need to make a blockbuster offer to ensure their next franchise quarterback remains in Green Bay for years to come.

It will happen, and we can expect a deal done before the Packers' opening training camp practice on July 22.

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