Jordan Love sits out first training camp practice, waiting for contract extension

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love will not practice until he and the team agree to the terms of a contract extension. 

General Manager Brian Gutekunst told reporters on Monday — the first day of training camp — that Love’s representatives informed the team over the weekend he planned to sit out of practice until the deal was done. 

He said both sides were close to getting a deal done, saying it could come in the next couple days, but “you never know.”

“We’re working really hard to get that done. I think it’s really important for us,” Gutekunst said. “At the same time, the thing I have confidence in is we want the same thing. We want Jordan here for a long time.”

Love is in the last year of his deal after signing a one-year extension last year that included $13.5 million in guaranteed money, and another $9 million in incentives. 

In the 25-year-old’s first season as the Packers’ starting quarterback, he completed 64.2 percent of his passes, threw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns with 11 interceptions.

During the team’s offseason program, Love kept his comments about the contract talks brief. He told reporters in June he hoped to get a contract done before training camp.

Despite sitting out of practice, the quarterback was seen walking onto the practice field in street clothes alongside head coach Matt LaFleur. 

LaFleur told reporters Monday that the team’s two backup quarterbacks, Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt, would split the practice reps until Love returns to the field. 

“You just gotta adjust and adapt, and that’s the nature of the beast,” LaFleur said. “We’re confident he’ll be out there sooner than later. I know how he prepares, so I’m not overly concerned about that.”

Monday’s start to training camp came the day after the Packers announced a contract extension for defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Both sides agreed to a three-year extension worth $64 million.

When asked about the timeline for Clark’s extension on a podcast last month, Gutekunst indicated that knowing the parameters of Love’s extension would inform how the team approached other players in the final year of their deals.