Joe Burrow contract details: Cap hits, guaranteed money for Bengals QB revealed
We've learned all the important information about the five-year, $275 million contract extension Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow signed last week. The deal comes with $219.01 million in total guarantees, which include full guarantees and injury guarantees. The first three years of the contract at fully guaranteed no matter what happens, and the guarantees run […]
We've learned all the important information about the five-year, $275 million contract extension Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow signed last week.
The deal comes with $219.01 million in total guarantees, which include full guarantees and injury guarantees. The first three years of the contract at fully guaranteed no matter what happens, and the guarantees run out after the 2027 season.
NFL salary cap expert Andre Perotta was kind enough to calculate Burrow's salary cap hits for the duration of his contract. This information combined with the salaries and cash information Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk provided gives us all we need to know.
Joe Burrow's Cap Hits & Yearly Cash Earnings
- 2023: $19.515m cap hit, $45.545m in cash
- 2024: $29.714m cap hit, $65.714m in cash
- 2025: $46.25m cap hit, $35.25m in cash
- 2026: $56.25m cap hit, $35.25m in cash
- 2027: $58.25m cap hit, $37.25m in cash
- 2028: $53.5m cap hit, $40.5m in cash
- 2029: $52.539m cap hit, $50.539m in cash
Burrow's largest cap hit falls just under $60 million and doesn't occur until 2027. That gives the Bengals five years of continual increases to the salary cap to manage before the deal reaches its peak against the cap. Burrow's cash payments are also pretty equally distributed after he receives just over $111 million in the first two years.
In total, this can be looked at as a seven-year contract worth $310.048 million.
As far as guarantees go, the first three years are fully guaranteed no matter what. The fifth day of the 2025 league year will guarantee his 2026 option bonus of $10 million, but it is guaranteed for injury prior to that.
Joe Burrow's Guaranteed Money
- 2023: Fully guaranteed
- 2024: Fully guaranteed
- 2025: Fully guaranteed
- 2026: Guaranteed for injury at signing, fully guaranteed after fifth day of 2025 league year
- 2027: Guaranteed for injury at signing, $28.3m out of $37.25m fully guaranteed after fifth day of 2026 league year, all $37.25m fully guaranteed after fifth day of 2027 league year
- 2028: Not guaranteed
- 2029: Not guaranteed
This brings Burrow's fully guaranteed money to $146.509 million, which is how much he'll earn through 2025. This is the largest amount of fully guaranteed money an NFL player has ever signed for aside from Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed $230 million deal. Lamar Jackson had the previous second-largest amount at $135 million.
Burrow's deal is full of option bonuses (five to be exact) but only two of them are fully guaranteed at signing. The two guaranteed bonuses in 2024 and 2025 will be prorated throughout the life of the deal, which is why his cap hit in 2024 is small relative to his cash earnings that year.
There are also incentives for Burrow to hit starting in 2025. He'll receive $500,000 for every AFC Championship game he wins, and $1.25 million for every Super Bowl victory. The Bengals will hope they have to dip into this pool many a time.
Joe Burrow’s contract has no bearing on Bengals’ ability to build around him
This narrative needs to be put to bed now that Burrow’s extension has arrived.
Featured image via © Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
