Next up for a mega-deal, Joe Burrow
The top of the quarterback market has returned this year to an exercise in oneupmanship, with one player after another becoming the highest paid player in league history.
Next up? Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow.
Burrow, the first pick in the 2020 draft, a Super Bowl participant, and a dead-eyed, baby-faced killer in playoff games, is already one of the best two or three quarterbacks in football. He's perhaps second only to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
And Burrow now knows what it will take to be the highest paid player in the game.
With Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert ($52.5 million in new money) eclipsing Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson ($52 million in new money), who bested Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ($51 million), Burrow will now get $53 million, or more, on a long-term deal.
it could be a lot more, if Burrow signs an ultra-long-term Mahomes-style deal. The number also could be incomplete, if (as he should) Burrow pushes for a compensation package based on a percentage of the cap.
New-money average is only one factor. We expect to have a full breakdown of the Herbert deal on Wednesday. It quite possibly will reveal a degree of cash flow that Bengals owner Mike Brown will have a hard time matching.
Regardless, the waiting game is over. Herbert has signed. Burrow should, at this point, refuse to set foot on a practice field until his own deal is done. And there's no reason for the deal to not get done as soon as possible.
