Bengals QB Joe Burrow's record contract extension expected to be surpassed as soon as this year
It's a very rare occurrence in the NFL when a team pays one of their best players early in his career, and his contract doesn't look like a bargain a few years down the road. Joe Burrow is already priceless to the Cincinnati Bengals. Virtually everything great that's happened to the franchise in the past four […]
It's a very rare occurrence in the NFL when a team pays one of their best players early in his career, and his contract doesn't look like a bargain a few years down the road.
Joe Burrow is already priceless to the Cincinnati Bengals. Virtually everything great that's happened to the franchise in the past four years is due to his presence. He was well worth his five-year, $275 million extension he signed last offseason, which made him the highest-paid player in league history in terms of new average annual value.
It may not be long before Burrow loses that distinction.
Burrow capped off an offseason that featured five major starting quarterbacks signing extensions with their original teams. By going last out of the five, he secured the path to signing the largest deal out of all of them. A new offseason brings new quarterbacks to break the bank.
Dak Prescott is up first to make Joe Burrow's contract look even better
According to former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst, Joel Corry, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is positioning himself to exceed Burrow's $55 million AAV this offseason. Prescott's 2024 cap hit is an egregious $59.445 million, and the Cowboys will surely want that lowered as he enters the last year of his contract. Per Corry, Prescott may even hit the $60 million per year mark with his new deal.
"It wouldn't be surprising for Prescott's camp to use Burrow's average over his first three new years to justify $60 million per year. Overall, the top of the quarterback market increased in 2023 by 9.41% from 2022. A $60 million-per-year extension would be a 9.09% increase over Burrow's deal." – CBS Sports' Joel Corry
Long gone are the days when Andy Dalton signing for $16 million per year grabbed major headlines. The quarterback market continues to rise as the years progress, and the rise in the salary cap is a clear sign of it continuing.
Corry's article was published prior to the league announcing an unprecedented $30 million jump in the cap from last year. Prescott's representation is sure to point to this when negotiating a new deal this year. It could even lead to an AAV larger than $60 million.
Just like Burrow was always going to reset the market, the market was always going to reset after his turn. The more it does, the better Burrow's deal will look on the Bengals' cap sheet.
Bengals are on track to boldly attack area of weakness
Predicting how the Bengals will attack the offseason.
