Packers GM on Futures of Jordan Love, Jaire Alexander, Aaron Jones, David Bakhtiari
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst spoke emphatically about the futures of quarterback Jordan Love, running back Aaron Jones and cornerback Jaire Alexander on Thursday.
He spoke less emphatically about left tackle David Bakhtiari, which in itself might have been a decisive statement.
Here’s what he had to say during his season-ending news conference.
Jordan Love: Contract Extension
Time is not of the essence to give Love a contract extension. He is under contract through the 2024 season, and the team could buy time with a franchise tag in 2025.
It won’t come to that. Love officially signed last year’s one-year extension on May 3. That means he’ll be eligible to sign a long-term extension in about three months – May 3, 2024, to be exact.
“I think we will go down that road,” Gutekunst said. “Certainly, I think that’ll be important for our football team to have some stability there. Jordan and his representation, they’re really good people, so we will start working toward that some time in the next couple months.”
Love was sensational down the stretch. Of the last eight regular-season games, Love posted seven with a 100-plus passer rating with a combined 18 touchdowns vs. one interception. He then posted the highest road passer rating in a playoff game in NFL history in the victory at Dallas.
His base salary for 2024 is $10.5 million.
“Jordan had a really good season toward the end, especially the second half, and we are really excited to build around him,” Gutekunst said.
Jaire Alexander: Won’t Be Traded
After a season bedeviled by injuries and a one-game suspension for appointing himself a team captain at Carolina, Gutekunst made clear that Alexander will return as the team’s No. 1 cornerback.
“No,” Gutekunst said when asked if he’d consider trading the two-time All-Pro.
After the suspension at Minnesota, Alexander returned for Week 18 at Chicago and played through an ankle injury in the playoff games against Dallas and San Francisco.
“Those things are difficult and those are tough,” Gutekunst said of the suspension. “But, at the end of the day, it allowed us all to reset. I’m really proud of the way Jaire responded to that. I really think that’s going to help us moving forward.”
Aaron Jones: Will Return
Jones is due an $11.1 million base salary with a cap charge of a little more than $17 million in 2024. That’s a lot of money for a running back who will turn 30 in December and was plagued by injuries for most of the season.
But the Packers’ season didn’t really start rolling until Jones started rolling. He ended the regular season with three consecutive games of 100-plus rushing yards, then added a couple more in the playoffs. It was the longest single-season streak of 100-yard games in franchise history.
Jones took a pay cut to stick around in 2023; he probably will play under some sort of revamped deal in 2024, as well.
“We’d love to have Aaron back,” Gutekunst said. “We’re still putting all those things together as far as how we’re going to move forward. But he was such a difference-maker when he was out there this year, the way our offense was able to move, the way he changed a lot of the way we operated when he was in there and when he was healthy.
“I think for us, it’s finding a way to keep him out there and keep him healthy. Not only on the field but, and you guys know this, he’s such an influential leader in our locker room. He’s just really the heartbeat of our team. That’s certainly the anticipation that he’ll be back.”
David Bakhtiari: Maybe, Maybe Not
Gutekunst’s unequivocal comments about Love, Alexander and Jones stood in sharp contrast to what he had to say about Bakhtiari, the 32-year-old former All-Pro whose career was ruined by a knee injury sustained on Dec. 31, 2020.
Bakhtiari played in one game in 2021, 11 games in 2022 and one game in 2023. He’s up to five surgeries in hopes of not only returning to the field but returning to standout status.
“We are at the very beginning stages of looking at how we are going to move forward with all of that,” Gutekunst said. “Obviously, David has been through a really rough stretch with the injury stuff, and he’s going through a very major surgery trying to get back to be able to play. We’re monitoring that and I know he’s working his tail off. Once we get down the road and see where he’s at health-wise we will kind of make those decisions.”
Bakhtiari is entering his final season under contract. With a $20.2 million base salary, his cap charge is an astronomical $40.02 million for 2024. If the Packers were to release him, it would save almost $21 million against the cap, according to OverTheCap.com.
