"I think we can all understand Green Bay isn't a huge vacation destination. People are coming here to play with me." That's what Aaron Rodgers said three years ago, coming back to the Packers after a tense offseason.

Rodgers is gone, and people are going to Green Bay in free agency. Well, to be fair, it's not because the city is a huge vacation destination. Rather, it's because the real reason for Rodgers' desire to request a trade was a great decision by the Packers. Jordan Love has not only established himself as a viable starter, he is an attractive factor for the team in free agency.

On Friday, the two Packers big moves on the market talked to Green Bay's media for the first time. Both Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney praised the new Packers quarterback.

"I was telling people when we were scouting them, from when we were playing them last year," former Las Vegas Raiders' running back Josh Jacobs said. "I had seen him make some throws, I'm like 'Yeah, a lot of people can't do it.' Running backwards on one foot and slinging it on a dime. That kind of got me excited when I started thinking about it, and just watching film on him. Just to see the way he throws the ball effortlessly and the grit he plays with, I'm very excited to play with him."

Xavier McKinney was with the New York Giants, so he also faced Jordan Love and the Packers last year. Curiously enough, Love didn't have his best games against the Raiders and the Giants. But McKinney said that Love is a top passer.

"You need an elite quarterback to be able to even have a chance," the safety mentioned. "And I believe he is an elite quarterback."

This has been the most active offseason in free agency for the Packers since 2019, when they signed Za'Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos, and Billy Turner.

Money and contracts

Xavier McKinney signed a four-year, $67 million contract with the Packers — it can go up to $68 million with escalators. It's an average of $16.75 million per season, and the first two years are essentially guaranteed — even though there's no guaranteed money beyond 2024.

However, the Packers structured the deal in a way that the initial cap hit for 2024 will be $7.8 million.

Josh Jacobs signed a four-year, $48 million deal — $12 million per season. But only the first year is guaranteed, and Jacobs' cap hit in year 1 will be $5.307 million.

So the Packers signed two important pieces, but their combined cap hits in 2024 will be only $13.107 million — that's much less than what the Packers saved by releasing David Bakhtiari, for example.

Three reasons behind the Packers’ decision to move on from Aaron Jones to sign Josh Jacobs

Green Bay released Jones after seven seasons