It felt safe to project that an extension for Joe Burrow with the Cincinnati Bengals might come in June.
But a new comment from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network suggests there might be a bit of a wait remaining before anything gets done.
Talking about quarterback extensions recently, Rapoport added this at the end: “Burrow’s going to be highly, highly paid—perhaps even the highest-paid quarterback in football—we’ll see how this plays out. But… it does not sound like anything is imminent. It does sound like the wait will continue.”
Which is to say maybe news on an extension isn’t coming this month, not that there are any actual problems between the two parties. Burrow’s new contract, in particular, always projected to be one of the more complex deals in the league. So much so, one insider suggested the deal actually tie Burrow to the team’s salary cap.
There are interesting hurdles, to say the least. Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin knows the contract will be huge and an insider still expects it to make Burrow the NFL’s highest-paid player.
But whether it surpasses the total money Patrick Mahomes took ($450 million over 10 years), whether it will surpass Lamar Jackson’s average annual value ($52 million), the length (short is better for the player, longer better for team) and even structure (will it be “team friendly” like Mahomes’ rolling guarantees to help the team afford to keep other big names?) are some of the big hurdles in front of both parties.
Both Burrow and the Bengals have publicly said talks are underway, with Burrow even commenting on his deal’s impact on the team’s ability to do deals with the likes of Tee Higgins.
While hurdles remain, this very much feels like a speedbump and little else.
