Packers Sign Top Draft Picks Love, Dillon

As a first-round pick, all $12,383,470 of quarterback Jordan Love's contract is guaranteed.

Author:
Bill Huber
Publish date:
Jul 1, 2020 8:12 PM EDT

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers, who signed a few of their late-round draft picks last month, skipped to the head of the class on Wednesday by signing their first two draft picks.

Quarterback Jordan Love, the team’s first-round pick, signed a four-year deal worth $12,383,470, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. As a first-round pick, the contract is fully guaranteed. More than $6.56 million of that came as a signing bonus.

After throwing 32 touchdowns vs. six interceptions during a brilliant 2018, Love regressed horribly with just three more touchdowns (20) than interceptions (17) in 2019.

“(It’s) 17 learning moments,” Love said. “Things I learned from – you’ve got to go back and break it down and see why I made those mistakes. Some I have to learn from, and I can’t keep letting it happen, and that’s what I tell teams right there. They play the game, so they know. You’ve got to learn from your mistakes.”

Running back AJ Dillon, the team’s second-round pick, also signed. As part of the league’s rookie slotting system, his four-year deal should have been worth almost $5.286 million with a bonus of about $1.4 million.

At 247 pounds and with 4.53 speed in the 40, Dillon is a freakishly talented back who defensive coordinators were hell bent on stopping. With 1,685 rushing yards in 2019, it seemingly didn’t matter.

“The fact that Aaron Rodgers is quite a weapon, as we all know, there’s going to be a lot of two-deep coverages to take away the receiving game,” said Brian White, Dillon’s position coach at Boston College who’s now at Colorado State. “I would think that should open up some lanes for A.J. If you give him a crease, people are going to be surprised at how fast he is. He can hit the home run and he can bruise you and bump you and grind on you, but he can score. He can score from a long ways. The fans are going to Green Bay are going to really enjoy watching this guy play football.”

Of the 32 first-round picks, Love is one of six under contract. Of the second-round picks, Dillon is one of nine.

Green Bay has signed six of its nine picks. The others:

Outside linebacker Jonathan Garvin (seventh round), safety Vernon Scott (seventh round), guard Simon Stepaniak (sixth round) and guard/tackle Jon Runyan (sixth round).

Still unsigned: third-round tight end Josiah Deguara, fifth-round linebacker Kamal Martin and sixth-round center Jake Hanson.