Executive Snapshot
Jordan Love signed a four-year, $220 million extension in July 2024 with $100.8 million fully guaranteed at signing — 45.8 percent of the total, and a higher at-signing share than Trevor Lawrence obtained on a larger deal a month earlier. The structural feature that distinguishes this contract is not the guarantee, though. It is what Green Bay did with the cap at the moment of execution.
Of the $51 million in cash Love earns in 2026, $31.6 million had already been pushed into future cap years when he signed the deal in 2024. The 2026 cap charge is $36.1 million against $51 million of cash. That gap did not come from a restructure this spring; it was built in from the start.
The Vesting Schedule
| Tranche | Status at signing | Conversion trigger |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 and 2025 compensation | Fully guaranteed | — |
| 2026 base salary ($10.4M) | Fully guaranteed | — |
| 2026 compensation ($39.5M) | Injury-guaranteed | Fully guaranteed on the 5th league day of 2025 — vested |
| 2027 compensation ($20M) | Injury-guaranteed | Fully guaranteed on the 5th league day of 2026 — vested |
The pre-kick is a real trade and it is worth naming both sides of it. Green Bay bought 2026 room at a price it paid in advance: roughly $7.3 million is all that remains extractable from this contract by further restructure, because the flexibility was already spent. A club that restructures in year three still has the option available; a club that pre-kicks at signing has converted an option into a certainty and has nothing left to sell when it needs room later. The Institute's read is that Green Bay chose correctly for a roster it believed was closing, and that the bill for the choice arrives in 2027.
A Nomenclature Disagreement Worth Flagging
Spotrac's 2026 line labels the $39.5 million instrument a signing bonus. The mechanic is an option bonus. The distinction is not cosmetic — an option bonus can be declined, a signing bonus cannot — and readers reconciling this contract against Over The Cap should expect the labels to differ. This page reports the mechanic rather than either tracker's label.
Separately, a viral social-media claim that Love donated his entire $25 million signing bonus is false on its face: his signing bonus is $75 million. The Institute notes it here only because the claim continues to circulate and because a reader encountering it should know why it is wrong.
Off the Field
Endorsements. No named-outlet figure. Neither Sportico nor Forbes has published a Love endorsement total, and this page does not estimate one.
Foundation. The Hands of 10ve Foundation is publicly acknowledged by the Packers organization and an IRS filing exists under EIN 99-2782567 with a 2024 return. One caveat is carried rather than resolved: the address of record in the filing sits in California, not Wisconsin, which is consistent with a California-domiciled entity for a player from that state but is not, on its own, proof that the EIN maps to this foundation. The Institute states the uncertainty rather than asserting past it.
Tax. Wisconsin's individual income tax is graduated with a top marginal rate of 7.65 percent. Among current top-market quarterbacks, only the California clubs and Maryland impose a materially heavier home-state burden.
Read this against
Read against Trevor Lawrence, whose option bonuses were left live rather than pre-kicked, and against Dak Prescott, whose club retained a unilateral restructure right. Team altitude sits in the Green Bay Packers franchise case.
Sources & Attribution
Contract terms and cap figures from Spotrac and Over The Cap. Restructure capacity analysis from Packers News. Foundation status checked against IRS filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. Wisconsin rates from the Tax Foundation.
Contract terms are as reported by Spotrac and Over The Cap and by the original reporting of the signing. Where trackers disagree on a cap or dead-money figure, the disagreement is stated on the page rather than resolved silently. Endorsement figures are carried only where a named outlet — Sportico or Forbes — has published one; where no such figure exists this page says so instead of estimating. Foundation entities are confirmed against IRS Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer; where no filing exists, the page does not assert a foundation. The Baratelli Institute is a publisher. Nothing here is investment, tax, or legal advice.