Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is expected to receive a massive contract extension this offseason.
Burrow is in line for an extension for the first time in his career as he enters his fourth year in the NFL.
The extension isn’t expected to happen until after April 1 due to the NFL’s archaic rules about guaranteed money needing to be in an escrow account upfront (if the deal is executed after April 1, the Bengals will have until March 31, 2024 to put the money in escrow).
On Friday, Burrow appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show” alongside Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana.
Burrow and Montana are in New York City on behalf of Guinness Beer, which was the focus of most of the interview.
Near the end of the interview, however, NBC’s Craig Melvin asked Burrow about the current state of quarterbacks in the NFL.
Melvin didn’t ask Burrow anything about quarterback contracts, but that didn’t stop Burrow from mentioning the rising cost of quarterbacks in the NFL.
“I think it’s an exciting time for quarterbacks in the league,” said Burrow. “Because the market is getting higher and higher. The dollar value is getting higher and higher. And that’s pushing the league forward and pushing guys forward. There’s more and more quarterbacks coming in this day and age that are really quick to come in and start immediately and play well early….it’s an exciting time for the game”.
I think some fans have been under the impression that Burrow is going to give the Bengals a discount with his extension. But I don’t think that’s going to be the case at all.
I think he’ll structure his deal similarly to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes where there are ways for Cincinnati to restructure and save cap space down the road, but I don’t think you’ll see Burrow leave money on the table.
And that’s for two reasons. For one, Burrow deserves to be paid. He’s not a fool — Burrow knows his worth.
The other reason is that it’s clear that Burrow cares about pushing the market forward for the guys who come after him. He’s not going to take a lesser deal that causes the quarterback market to regress.
Burrow will sign a deal that allows the Bengals to have some flexibility, but fans should still expect his extension to be a record-setting one.
