The rumor, on third-rate twitter accounts that can’t be trusted, is that Jordan Love is close to signing a blockbuster $56mm per year deal to stay quarterback of the Packers for at least the next six seasons. Other people, the ones who probably have actual sources, say the sides aren’t close to a deal but negotiations are going well. Either way, Jordan Love will almost certainly become the highest paid player in the league over the next month or so. It’s OK to be a little disappointed as a fan when that happens.

It’s not about labor vs. capital

When I was growing up, everyone talked about how terrible it was that pro athletes made so much more money than teachers and firefighters and any other honorable but underpaid profession that you can think of. Over the past 10 years or so, the argument has flipped to be more of a “Who do you really want to have that money? The billionaire owner or the millionaire athlete who you love?”

Both of these arguments are missing the point. Obviously, pro athletes who entertain millions are going to make more money than a small-town public employee, it’s just a question of scope. The anti-capitalistic ‘f the owners’ argument gets likes on Twitter but also doesn’t really do it for me.

Salary Caps

If I had to choose, I would opt for an NFL that doesn’t have a salary cap and doesn’t have a draft each season. Allow every team to spend what they want/can and allow players to negotiate to go where they want. In that system, I would fully support players squeezing every last dime out of the billionaire NFL owners (or in Green Bay’s case, every last dime out of the budget, I guess).

Unfortunately, the collective bargaining agreement, which the players have agreed to over and over, puts a cap on player salaries and makes it so that squeezing the last dime out of salary negotiations doesn’t really do jack to the owner, it just makes it harder to run a good team.

Almost every NFL team is going to spend up to within $10mm or so of the salary cap, if not more, using so-called salary cap shenanigans. Forcing the team to make you the highest paid player at your position doesn’t mean the owner can’t buy another yacht, it means the GM can’t sign another cornerback.

As we’ve heard over and over again, players like Tom Brady and Pat Mahomes (probably to a lesser extent than Brady) understood this and took team-friendly contracts so that the team could be better.

Turns out the way to get to the Super Bowl is to have the best QB and pay him like the 6th best QB. Who would’ve guessed that they’d end up making more money being in the Super Bowl year after year?  

More Money

Speaking of Mahomes and Brady, both QBs have taken less on their NFL contracts than they probably could have and both have probably made more money, all else considered, than anyone else.

It’s an old argument, but a good one, that giving up a little money for the sake of the team will lead to making more money elsewhere once the team is successful.  

In the end

No matter what Love decides, Packers fans will likely stick with him through thick and thin as long as he doesn’t threaten to leave the team. Fans supported Aaron Rodgers through several ‘squeeze every last dime’ type contract negotiations, and you can make very good arguments that if Rodgers left some money on the table the team would’ve ended up with a few more Super Bowls.

Mike Price is a lifelong Packers fan currently living in Utah. You can follow him on twitter at @themikeprice.

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