Yep! That is kind of what I meant by “franchise QB”. Hall-of-famer is a better, tangible definition. I 100% agree with you. If you aren’t 90% sure by end of year 3 this guy has a HOF trajectory, you don’t extend him for big money. You play out his contract and let him walk/pick up 5th year option if a 1st rounder. Or you extend him at a below-market rate. Or you trade him.I doubt teams ever get to this point, but if they were realistic the end of the rookie contract question isn't "is he a franchise QB?" The real question is whether or not he's on track to be a hall of famer. If the answer is no, then you should probably let him walk and start over. You don't win Super Bowls with franchise QBs. You win Super Bowls with Mahomes, Brady and really good QBs on rookie deals. Exceptions are rare (i.e. the cap shuffle with Stafford).
I'm curious to see what happens in GB. On one hand I think Love is in the category of good QB, possibly franchise QB, but not likely a great QB. The flipside to that is I think they have the single best passing game concept guy in the league in LaFleur. Guys get wide ass open so often in that offense, and I have no idea how. So I think they can possibly win big, but I don't think they need Love and that cap hit to do so. They have drafted pretty well, so they have some solid guys on cheap deals.
Is it easier to win the SB with HOF QBs. No question. But there are other ways to win (maybe not a dynasty, but a SB here and there), and you can’t just magically pluck a HOF from a tree. You either have one or you don’t. And paying a non-HOFer 25% of the cap won’t win you a SB.