Could Packers Trade Love to Give Rodgers Clarity?

GREEN BAY, Wis. – One way to get quarterback Aaron Rodgers the job security he wants would be for the Green Bay Packers to trade Jordan Love.

That’s not going to happen, though.

Remember, the Packers signed Love to a four-year contract worth $12.383 million. Every penny of that was guaranteed. Thus, parting ways now would create a dead cap hit of about $9.3 million, according to Spotrac.

According to the NFLPA, the Packers entered the night with $2.69 million of cap space. In other words, they would have to quickly create about $6.65 million of cap space to absorb Love’s dead money charge and remain compliant with the cap.

Behind the finances and the fact it’s shelled out a lot of money for a player who spent the year as the No. 3 quarterback, it would be the tremendous loss of draft capital. Green Bay gave up first- and fourth-round picks to get Love last year. What could it recoup in a trade?

Almost nothing, comparatively.

With five first-round quarterbacks, a lot of holes were filled in the first 15 picks of Thursday night’s draft. And there will be a few decent options in Day 2. So, any team needing a quarterback can probably find its quarterback in the draft.

One source said he thought the Packers could get a fourth- or fifth-rounder for Love. First, he wasn’t universally loved last draft cycle. Two, he did not have a good training camp. “We read what you guys wrote. It’s all we had with no preseason,” he said. Third, it’s a case of out of sight, out of mind. Did Love make any progress behind closed doors while facing Green Bay’s defense on the practice field? Nobody knows other than the Green Bay coaching staff.

On the other hand, Love’s contract would be easy to swallow for his new team. Green Bay’s already paid about $8.21 million of the $12.38 million, or two-thirds of the total. The new team would be on the hook for only base salaries of $1.17 million in 2021, $1.74 million in 2022 and $2.30 million in 2023.

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