Build around your young quarterback!
That’s an ever-popular idea in the NFL, especially when teams have a young QB who they hope becomes a franchise pillar. That’s exactly the situation in Green Bay, where the Packers hope Jordan Love will be The Guy for the next decade.
This offseason, the Packers made numerous moves to make his life easier, which follows a leaguewide trend.
The Chicago Bears added multiple pieces to their offensive line this offseason, plus they drafted a tight end in the first round and a wide receiver in the second. The Washington Commanders traded for wide receiver Deebo Samuel and drafted Oregon offensive lineman Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round.
Young quarterbacks on rookie deals afford a team the luxury of being able to spend big elsewhere to try and squeeze all the juice out of the orange. But while Love is entering just his third year as a starter, his situation differs from that of some other young quarterbacks.
Love sat behind Aaron Rodgers for two years and is already on a four-year, $220 million deal that includes $160 million in guarantees.
Despite that, the Packers have found ways to build around their gunslinger, and this offseason was an all-out investment. Cornerback and edge rusher appeared to be the primary needs for the Packers entering this offseason. Instead, general manager Brian Gutekunst’s biggest was a four-year, $77 million deal with left guard Aaron Banks.
When the draft rolled around, there were plenty of cornerbacks and edge rushers who had been discussed as good fits for the Packers when it was their turn at the podium. Instead, they sought more help for Love, drafting wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round and another wide receiver in Savion Williams in the third.
Sandwiched between the two? Another offensive lineman in North Carolina State’s Anthony Belton.
Love may not need all these reinforcements to shine, but Green Bay’s decision to surround him with so many options will let them know exactly what they have in No. 10. The Packers believe in Love; the contract they dished out to him spoke volumes. However, part of being fully invested in him is setting him up for success.
If things go according to plan in 2025, and Love, along with the entire passing game, makes significant strides, it will alleviate some of the pessimism that lingered after last season.
You certainly can’t ignore that the passing game wasn’t firing on all cylinders for long stretches in 2024. But putting all the blame on Love is foolish. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed were both in the top five in the league in drops. On top of that, the Packers topped the league in third-down incompletions due to receiver error with a whopping 32.7% in that category.
For those worried Love may not be the guy after an inefficient 2024, LaFleur sure doesn’t sound worried.
I think there’s like a narrative out there for whatever reason that he wasn’t as productive as the year before. Well, he missed significant time. He missed the better of three games. Really, it was Indy. It was Tennessee. He went out in Jacksonville and then he went out in Chicago. So, you know, three games is a significant amount of time and you’re not going to produce as much from a numbers perspective … and also, let’s be honest — we’ve talked about this — we did have a lot of drops last year.
Love’s injuries also factored in significantly, even though the mere mention of that will cause some eyes to roll. But when a player suffers three different injuries and the first one occurs in Week 1 and sidelines them for the next two games, it isn’t as easy to find a rhythm early.
You can point fingers in several different directions if you’re looking to apportion blame for the sagging passing game. Green Bay aggressively sought out solutions by drafting Golden and Williams and adding Mecole Hardman in free agency. Just to make things more comfortable for their quarterback, Green Bay drafted Belton early and brought in Banks to be the starting left guard.
All of these moves will hopefully not just benefit the offense but underscore another point.
Jordan Love is worth the investment.