Roger from Lakewood Ranch, FL

It truly is a good morning. (Insert drum roll.) It's finally here! Saturday Insider Inbox!

I've got Elton John's famous song running in my head today. I think he says "Saturday" more than two dozen times during the chorus. Anyway, this is normally Wes's domain, but it just happened to fall to me the first week. We'll be back on our normal days next week.

Davy from Watertown, WI

Seems like a worthy way to celebrate the first Saturday Inbox of the season.

Wait, what, did something happen Friday night?

Michael from Eagle, ID

Apparently Spoff doesn't have to go on vacation for breaking news. Clocking out for the day is sufficient?

I guess so.

Glen from Leesburg, VA

With QB1 extended, the offense is going to end their streak of doing pushups after practice. Glad to see the deal is done and ready see this offense shine.

We'll see when this is officially official and what that means for the practice plan with Jordan Love, but the offensive line needs to start settling in, too. That unit has had a number of moving parts and seems to really miss Zach Tom.

Rick from Oswego, IL

So, Jordan Love signed a four-year/$220M contract extension. Does that mean he technically has a five-year contract and will be playing out the last year of the deal he signed last year?

Correct, Love is now under contract for the next five seasons. But the signing bonus he's pocketing immediately makes the terms of the final year of his old deal basically irrelevant, except as it all relates to the cap.

Jeremy from Weston, WI

Now that Love has reset the QB market, which quarterback will be the next one to earn the title of "highest paid player in NFL history"?

Probably Dak Prescott.

Nathan from Sayuita, Mexico

Jordan Love fan. Think he is the future QB for our team. Also seems to be a solid person/leader. But am I the only one who remembers that he struggled to throw the deep ball, had nine fumbles and that some of his passing numbers were inflated by the fact that we consistently played in close games where we had to throw the ball? He deserves to get paid. But in my opinion, being the highest paid QB in the league after an eight-game heater is a bit of a stretch. Am I alone? Thoughts?

The Packers are making a commitment to their franchise QB, and if you'll recall, the last franchise QB got his first big contract after half his "first" season, in 2008. While there's no denying there was a stark difference between the first and second halves of 2023 for Love, there was a rather unique picture at play for his inaugural year at the helm. Youth on the perimeter abounded, and guys were figuring it out. Injuries struck the backfield and the O-line, where shuffling occurred until everyone found their way. When the cast surrounding him made major strides, so did Love, and there's more growth to come from all parties. That's what the Packers are investing in.

Joe from Ormond Beach, FL

Mike, my only pushback that players should hold out to get the most money since they can be cut at any time is, welcome to the real world. None of us have guaranteed jobs or salaries. In addition, we don't make millions like Love already has that if invested properly will secure him for life. Just stating a different perspective. Have a great day.

But the real-world perspective is meaningless here. The NFL is its own world and must be viewed through such a lens to be understood. There's nothing comparable to the life you and I live, so processing it from that foundation is pointless. I'm here to provide the NFL-world perspective, not the average, everyday one.

Eric from Kenosha, WI

Good morning. Perhaps the "Love is being a diva" crowd should stop and ask themselves, who or what would an injury to QB1 right now benefit? Aside from the obvious not having QB1, it would further complicate an already complex contract negotiation for both sides. What is happening now is unfortunate, but it is smart business, and they'll get the deal figured out.

Clearly, they did, and it's worth pointing out the Vikings and Rams already lost cornerbacks to torn ACLs, in non-padded practices, and the Lions lost their kicker to a severe hamstring injury. I'll never fault Love one second for taking the approach he did.

Matt from St. Paul, MN

A counterpoint to Mike's claim that excusing Love's holdout is in the long-term interest of the Packers because we don't want to hurt our relationship with our QB: Giving Love a huge contract while he refuses to practice would send a message to every current and future Packer that holding out works, and that practice is optional if you don't like your contract. I agree giving Love a new contract is in our best interest. Rewarding him for holding out isn't.

Wrong again. Everything about franchise QBs is different and there's no comparison or message to the rest of the roster. They get paid more than anyone else, by far. They have a greater import on wins and losses than anyone else, by far. They're the most difficult asset to find and replace, by far. Is that fair to the rest of the players? Of course not. But they get it. That's life, as well as life in the NFL.

Jennifer from Middleton, WI

Thanks to both of you and your production team for the time you put into "Unscripted." I'm so happy it's back. Spoff, my question has been percolating for years. How are you able to do the ad reads with the exact same cadence and inflection every single time? It amuses me. It's like a recording. Sometimes I say it out loud with you for fun. Is that a journalism school thing?

Ha, no. It's just the brain going on auto-pilot. Maybe I'll work on changing it up. I'm just glad when I don't forget to do the reads, which has happened.

Richard from Menasha, WI

ML mentioned a "transportation type" run in his press conference Friday. What is a "transportation type" run?

Great question, and I'm not sure. Maybe it's a run on which a pulling lineman leads the back through the hole, but that's a guess.

Keith from Springfield, MO

Great job II. Is it possible that this year's training camp is the most competitive GB has had in recent years? Except for the O-line perhaps. All positions seem to have multiple players capable of starting, or so it seems to me. Wouldn't you hate to be the GM on final cutdown day to make the hard decisions?

It's difficult to do full-roster comparisons year to year, and as I'm getting older all training camps start to meld together anyway. But this is a talented, deep Packers team, like many they've had here in the past. Good health willing, this squad has what it needs to win and give itself a chance. Beyond that, we all know what the season hinges on – playing your best when it matters most.

Gregory from Waukesha, WI

Wes, your comment on how the conversation will switch if Jordan gets his contract done, and it resulting in you being sad literally made me laugh out loud. Thanks for all that you guys do in keeping us fans entertained as we start to wake up to the season. I'm feeling it.

That line from Weston is one of my all-time favorites. It's so funny because it's so true.

Tim from Fayetteville, NC

Which GBPs have won DPOY?

Looking strictly at the Associated Press award, just two. Reggie White in 1998 and Charles Woodson in 2009. Clay Mattews was runner-up to Troy Polamalu in 2010, losing by two votes.

Zak from Huntington Beach, CA

Has Daniel Whelan firmly secured the punter job after last season, or does he have some in-camp competition?

There's no in-camp competition, but specialists are always competing with any available option out there. I believe the Packers have every intention of keeping Whelan as their punter, but at least twice in my time here a punter has held the job all the way through camp and the preseason, only to be replaced by an outside acquisition at cut-down time.

TK from Grafton, WI

Position battle: Start the young, physically gifted young player who shows some inconsistency, or the less imposing, steady veteran?

Depends what role is being thrust upon him and who's around him. I don't think there's a set answer to that question without incorporating a larger outlook.

Jeff from Dorr, MI

As for Rashan Gary being unblockable, I would not look at that necessary as a weakness of the offensive line. Correct me if I'm wrong, linemen probably going one-on-one at this time. Other teams will have to account for him with extra help and thus weakening other areas. Isn't that what field-tilters do?

Offensive coaches aren't adjusting protections to provide help or building game plans to stop specific opponents at this stage. It's sink or swim time.

Thomas from Madison, WI

In regard to the defensive backs competition, does the absence of JL10 impact how players are evaluated by the coaching staff? Maybe that's a stupid question, but I haven't submitted anything in a while and had to scratch the itch. Go Inbox Go!

The QB doesn't factor into the evaluation of alignment and assignment. But the film doesn't lie as to whether a targeted receiver was open or not, no matter how on or off target the QB's throw is.

Mike from San Diego, CA

Why do the kickers kick so few attempts in camp? According to the latest I saw, there were 12 attempts each over the week. That doesn't seem like enough to get a good gauge of discrepancies in consistency. Or is the idea more attempts aren't comparable to a game scenario?

It's a balance between generating a heightened focus for those live reps and not consuming too much of practice with them, when you want/need the full units on the field. The kickers do some work on their own we don't see as well.

Kevin from Westminster, CO

Will going from read-and-react defense to search-and-destroy leave the defense susceptible to big plays or create more takeaways by design?

It's going to leave them vulnerable in some fashion or everybody would play this way. Where and how exactly? I'm no expert. But covering for aggression must be built into the scheme and learned by the players as well.

Terry from Green Bay, WI

Happy Saturday! I don't know if this would happen but if the league went to an 18-game schedule we could have actual conference champions. Each team could play all of the other 15 teams in their conference plus the other three in their division a second time for a total of 18 games. It would eliminate any strength of schedule advantage and crown a true conference champion.

So no teams from the AFC would play any from the NFC, ever, except the Super Bowl? Say what? Baseball was structured that way, like, forever but has long since rectified that for the benefit of the game and its fans.

Kevin from Olympia, WA

Hi guys, just a comment on this 18-game season talk and sitting out players. Why don't we proceed with the 18-game schedule but have all the starters sit the first two games of the season. Then the backups could get reps and we could evaluate which players might be long-term fits as backups and practice-squad personnel … oh wait … never mind.

Nicely done.

Jeff from Montclair, VA

Should the NFL move to an 18-game season, do you see any "back of the house" employees such as yourselves getting pay raises? More long hours and late nights. More road trips and time away from home. Less time for PTO. I would hope they either increase your salaries or reduce your workload proportionately and am willing to advocate for such at next year's shareholder meeting. Thanks for all you do. Slogan for 2024/25: NO OVERREACTING.

Appreciate all the sentiment, but no need to advocate for us. Yes, the season is a grind and it wears us all down, no matter how many games are played, but this is a great place to work.

Dar from Mansfield, TX

Welcome back, Saturday Inbox! Before this auspicious return, my Saturday routine consisted of: 1. Caffeinate. 2. Wander aimlessly in the wilderness until Monday's Inbox. Now I again have purpose and structure in my weekends. I'm productive. I'm a real person. Thank you, Mike, Wes, and Inbox sponsors for bringing back this happy one-seventh we've all deeply missed.

Wandering aimlessly in the wilderness sounds great right about now. Have a good weekend, everybody.