Things didn’t go according to plan for the Bengals in Week 1, but the team accomplished its most important offseason goal not long before the campaign started by inking Joe Burrow to a record-breaking extension. Further details have emerged regarding the investment made in the team’s franchise quarterback. 
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Burrow’s five-year, $275MM extension gives him the title of the NFL’s highest-paid player in terms of annual compensation (one which has changed hands four times in 2023). The pact is notable not only with respect to its $55MM AAV and the $219.01MM in total guarantees, but also the up front commitment made by the Bengals in a move which bucks the organization’s norms regarding major contracts.
Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Burrow will see roster and training camp bonuses totaling just over $44.5MM in 2023, along with a league minimum base salary. In 2024, he will receive a combined total of $65.7MM between salary and an option bonus; that total sits at $35.25MM for 2025. All of the 26-year-old’s compensation over the next three years is fully guaranteed at signing.
That makes Burrow’s pact a much more lucrative one in terms of early cash flow ($146.5MM across 2023-25) compared to Justin Herbert‘s Chargers extension, as noted by Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald. It also marks a break from tradition in terms of standard practice for the Bengals, who have typically avoided including injury guarantees beyond Year 1 of an extension. Making an exception to that rule was always going to be necessary given the market for QBs on their second contracts, but this structure is certainly noteworthy.
Burrow’s pact – which runs through 2029 – also includes rolling guarantees which cover much of his compensation in 2026 and ’27. Incentives for victories in the AFC title game and Super Bowl are also present through the final five years of the pact, meaning he will be well-positioned for years to come provided he can remain healthy and play at the level he has demonstrated in previous campaigns (which differs greatly from his performance during his first game after signing the mega-pact).
Questions will be raised about how many core contributors the Bengals can retain with Burrow now on the books at a massive raise. Wideout Tee Higgins is among the players who seems destined to at least test the open market before potentially departing in free agency, but the team has cost certainty with its most important player for the foreseeable future.
Joe says he wants to keep everyone, then signs the biggest deal? As they say, talk is cheap.
Joe Burrows talk ain’t cheap! hell anytime the front office wants to talk to him it’s an additional $250,000. he took every penny he could so much for past week keeping T Higgins and Jamar Chase together
Looks pretty silly given yesterday’s debacle.
Burrow stunk up the place yesterday….the Bengals Mgt better hope that this was just a bad game and not the real Burrow showing up after last years stellar performance which led to this big money extension……he was TERRIBLE…..understhrow, overthrows, mis-reads, no mobility, etc…..don’t ever remember Mahomes having this bad a performance even when he loses.
KC lost on Thursday, didn’t they? Does it matter if it’s 40-0 or 34-33 ? It’s still a loss. Burrow will be just fine.
It actually does matter. Burrow threw for 82 yards and com0leted 45% of his passes. You can bet other teams will mimic what the Browns did. The NFL is a copycat league.
Burrow I believe had 5 turnovers in game one last year. Why didn’t the league just copycat the Steelers?
Turnovers are more luck and opportunity than talent. You see teams lead the league in turnover differential one year and finish in the lower half the next year. You hardly ever see offenses and defenses doing that.
4 interceptions in week one last year. Why didn’t the league just copy that?
Good for joe, and agent, to get whatever you can. Any negative feedback should hit on mgmt as they’ve finality on what they’ll spend.
As for the play in the game I do agree it wasn’t prime Burtow. In defense remember he’s been hindered with a calf problem (don’t know what kind but here we raise Black Angus) and that likely brought some misery. But then it’s just 1 game with 16 to go to make it to the ‘tournament’.
Burrow not Burtow – couldn’t correct in time
It’s a calf strain that obviously still bothers him because he’s riding a bike on the sidelines and getting his calf stretched on the sidelines during the game. Those things don’t go away if you don’t let them heal completely. I expect him to miss games this year
So many quarterbacks making more than Mahomes, the best and most accomplished quarterback in the game today. No wonder concession prices are through the roof. You would think there would be better structure. Until you win this and this, you can’t make more than this guy. Nope, just throw money around.
Best? Most accomplished? What a comedian. Take away one piece of the puzzle (Kelce) and he’s lost. The best QB is the one that takes a team of has-beens and never was and drags their butts to the playoffs. Anyone can do that with the the team KC has. Wait a few years when they’re in salary cap hell and don’t have the money to sign any big names, then we’ll see how good he is. Think Russell Wilson and his change of scenery. Not working so good. Wasn’t he a hall of famer just 3 years ago?
Every great quarterback had weapons to throw to. Name three of the greats of all time that had trash WR/TE around them. I’ll wait.
What are you talking about?
You might want to check out Kelce’s numbers with Alex Smith. Good, but not great.