When it comes to NFL quarterback contracts, timing is everything. And right now, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love has excellent timing as he seeks to sign an extension with the team. Since it has now been more than a year since Love signed his two-year deal with the team, the Packers can sign him to a long-term deal that will keep him in Green and Gold for the foreseeable future. But what will it cost to make Love the franchise’s next long-term starter and franchise quarterback?

Earlier this week, the Detroit Lions signed Jared Goff to a long-term extension. The deal was reportedly worth $212 million over four years with $170 million guaranteed. That gives the Lions starting QB an average salary of $53 million per season over the life of his new contract.

Goff has more experience than Love and has an impressive resume. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler and has a career quarterback rating of 93.6. He has led his teams to the playoffs four times including helping the Rams reach the Super Bowl after the 2018 season.

Goff is in the prime of his career. He’s been in the league eight seasons and will turn 30 later this year.

Goff is not at the top of the market, although he’s in the ballpark. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow earns $55 million per season which keeps him as the league’s top earning quarterback, at least for now. Justin Herbert of the Chargers is presently earning an average of $52.5 million, Lamar Jackson of the Ravens makes $52 million per year, the same as Goff, while Jalen Hurts of the Eagles is at $51 million annually.

Love doesn’t have the proven track record of these other quarterbacks. He’s only been a starter in the NFL for one full season. Including playoffs, that means 20 games started, one in 2021, 17 regular season games and two playoff games in 2023.

Love struggled at times in the first half of the season. His accuracy on deep throws was inconsistent. He was slow to read defenses at times. His offensive line was still learning and adjusting to some new players and the team’s young receivers and tight ends were still learning. Many times, the young receivers ran the wrong pass patterns which resulted in incomplete passes or interceptions depending on the mistake and the play.

Still, after an October slump, Love finished the season like an elite quarterback. In the final eight games of the regular season, Love completed 70.3 percent of his passes for 2,150 yards. He threw 18 touchdown passes and just one interception. That gave him a quarterback rating of 112.7 which was second in the league.

In the playoff win over the Cowboys, Love played an outstanding game. He completed 16-of-21 passes for 272 yards and threw three touchdowns. He had a perfect quarterback rating until his final pass of the game fell incomplete. As a result, his final quarterback rating for the game was “just” 157.2.

Love’s finish to the season proved he was an elite quarterback.

Love also showed leadership qualities from the start. During the offseason, he held a passing camp and invited his young receivers to join him to create chemistry and help the rookies get up to speed. The team responded to Love even before he took over as the starter and that bond became stronger after one season with Love under center.

The Packers are better off signing Love sooner rather than later. Goff’s recent contract just helped the quarterback market go up. Each year, more star quarterbacks have their deals up for renewal and each wants to be at or near the highest paid QB in the league. The salary cap also goes up each year by a significant amount as the NFL continues to earn more money each season.

The Packers should look to lock up Love for a minimum of five years which would keep him in Green Bay through the age of 31. They would be able to secure his services before the price goes up and use one more year to spread out a signing bonus or to manipulate the cap hit over specific seasons.

The time is now. Sometime before the start of training camp, GM Brian Gutekunst should be signing Love to an extension. Crossing this off the organization’s to do list will be a big step towards the team’s next era of being a contending team.