WASHINGTON: Jordan Love has agreed to a new four-year deal with the Green Bay Packers that makes him level with the NFL’s highest-paid players, according to multiple reports on Friday. The Packers, who moved Love into a starting quarterback role when Aaron Rodgers moved on last year, agreed to a $220 million contract, according to ESPN and the NFL Network. Love’s deal includes a record $75 million signing bonus.

It matches the biggest NFL contract at $55 million a year with fellow quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence at Jacksonville and Joe Burrow at Cincinnati. Love, 25, had decided to sit out of the Packers’ pre-season training camp until a deal was complete. Green Bay and Love agreed on a smaller one-year deal ahead of last season, the signal-caller betting on himself and winning big on Friday.

Love completed 372 of 579 passes for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns last season and ran for 247 yards and four touchdowns in sparking the Packers to a 9-8 campaign and a 48-32 playoff victory at Dallas before losing at San Francisco. The Packers took Love with the 26th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft rather than seek more blocking and receiving help for Rodgers. Love spent three seasons as a reserve soaking up lessons from Rodgers, the first two in campaigns when Rodgers was the NFL Most Valuable Player for a third and fourth time.

Dolphins, Tagovailoa deal

In another development, Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, last year’s NFL passing yardage leader, has agreed to a four-year contract extension with the Miami Dolphins worth $212.4 million, according to multiple reports on Friday. NFL Network and ESPN reported the deal, with a total of $167.1 million guaranteed in the agreement. Tagovailoa’s average annual value of $53.1 million in the agreement ranks third among NFL quarterbacks, behind the $55 million of Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence.

Tagovailoa, 26, suffered broken ribs in the 2021 season and two concussions during the 2022 campaign, but last year set career highs of 388 completions in 560 pass attempts for a league-best 4,624 yards and 29 touchdowns. Not since Dan Marino in 1992 had a Miami quarterback led the NFL in passing yardage. The Dolphins have not won a playoff game since the 2000 season, dropping six in a row. Miami fell to Buffalo in the first round of the 2022 campaign and lost to eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City last season. — AFP