Packers are backed into a corner with Jordan Love, who holds all the cards

Although a deal between Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers may be on the horizon, you have to wonder what the Packers' front office was even thinking. Giving Love a two-year deal instead of extending him the fifth-year option ahead of last year looked smart in some aspects. However, what it did was put the Packers behind the eight ball when it came to negotiating a new contract this year.

No matter what general manager Brian Gutenkust wants to do, he is not going to be able to lowball Love on a new contract. The going rate for any starting quarterback worth a damn in this league is $40 million. A top-five passer in the game should be netting well over $50 million. I would say Love should command somewhere in the $48 to $52 million range, but I am not part of his representation.

Green Bay may think it has some leverage in this situation, but nowhere near as much as what Love has to offer. He could play out the last season of his two-year contract and hit NFL free agency next winter. If he plays terribly, Green Bay doesn't have to bring him back. No matter what happens, someone will pay Love above the suppressed value the Packers are trying to sneak past us right now.

Simply, there are not enough high-end quarterbacks in the league and Love seems to be one of them.

Jordan Love holds all the cards in Green Bay Packers contract negotiation

Green Bay is hoping he will take less for long-term security. Love may want a five-year deal, but nobody in their right mind, outside of Green Bay of course, is going to give him one. I think a four-year deal with an opt-out clause after year two makes the most sense here. Love will get paid top-10 to 12 money, but the franchise who pays him may not be on the hook for all of it if he proves to be a lemon.

The biggest reason why Love has all the leverage in this is what are the Packers going to do? Start Sean Clifford? Give me a break! We are this soon into this offseason for these sort of shenanigans to rear their ugly heads. The last thing the Packers will want is for Love to play decently on an expiring contract, walk and then force the Packers to be in the quarterback market years before expected.

Keep in mind this franchise had two starting quarterbacks for the better part of 30 years in Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay always does things differently, and that is fine, but mom-and-pop nonsense is having less of a place in the increasingly corporate NFL with every passing paycheck. The dollars and cents have to make sense, but you can't operate all that different from everyone else.

Green Bay must understand that Love's next contract will start at at least $40 million-plus annually.