The Green Bay Packers' long run of franchise quarterbacks is far from over. Jordan Love got a lucrative, $220 million contract extension after playing very well in his first season as a starter. Brian Gutekunst has his guy under center to build around.

There was plenty of uncertainty around Love heading into his first starting season, his fourth season since being drafted. Learning under Aaron Rodgers was certainly helpful but not something that entirely made up for his lack of on-field experience. Once he did hit the field, though, he dazzled — and he showed lots of poise.

In an appearance on the Adam Schefter Podcast, Gutekunst explained (at the 25:30 mark) how Love showing such great progress down the stretch of the season and dealing with the early bumps in the road gave the franchise serious faith in him.

“We went through some adversity early,” the Packers general manager said, “some ups and downs, and watching him handle that — it wasn’t just him, it was the whole offense right and our team in general. Watching just kind of his steady hand, and his ability to work through that adversity, and then obviously towards the middle, end of the season when he started to play very, very high level. I think just understanding that he’s going to be able to go through adversity because that’s always going to be there in this league and come out the other side of it, I think that’s really where obviously our team really took off.”

Jordan Love's progression earns payday from Packers

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Love made major strides as the season went on, throwing 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 59.6 percent of his passes in his first eight games of 2023 and then throwing 20 touchdowns against just three picks with a completion percentage of 68.0 percent. If not for an ill-advised throw in the divisional round of the playoffs, Green Bay could have been in the NFC Championship Game.

The Packers have some intriguing young wide receivers, though none of them stand out as immediate stars. Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks are all growing alongside Love, making the core of Green Bay's offense young but impactful. With Josh Jacobs now in the fold, the Packers still have a chance at competing for the NFC North title.