Packers GM hopes to determine if Love is franchise QB by end of season
Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst is hopeful the final 10 games of the 2023 season will provide a definitive answer on Jordan Love's future as the team's franchise quarterback.
"I hope not," Gutekunst said Wednesday when asked if they would need more than this season to evaluate Love, according to ESPN's Rob Demovsky. "I think we've got 10 games left. These are going to be very important 10 games."
The Packers' offensive struggles during their current four-game losing streak - in which the team hasn't scored more than 20 points - have made it even more difficult for Gutekunst and Co. to fairly assess Love.
"When the group as a whole is not functioning the way it should function, then it's hard to evaluate anybody," he said. "At the same time, it's on us to get that right so we can move forward and evaluate the guys we have in that room. But yeah, when we're not clicking, it's tough to evaluate anything."
Love's play has been erratic over the four-game slide: He's thrown three touchdowns and seven interceptions. But Gutekunst admitted that it hasn't been all bad in Love's first full year as the team's starting quarterback.
"I think he's done a lot of really good things," the executive noted. "Really like the way he's responded to the adversity, how he's led the team. Again, we've got to be better as a unit, and I expect that to happen over the next 10 games."
After spending three seasons behind Aaron Rodgers, the 2020 first-round pick finally got his opportunity to lead Green Bay. Through seven games, Love's won two starts and completed 57.7% of his passes for 11 scores and eight picks. The Packers sit third in the NFC North at 2-5.
Love is under contract through next season and carries a cap hit of just $7.8 million for 2024, per Spotrac.