Just as the 2023 NFL season was kicking off, Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow was becoming the highest paid player on a per-year basis. Ever. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Burrow has signed a 5-year, $275 million deal with the Bengals. The deal includes over $219 million guaranteed.
The first overall pick over the 2020 NFL Draft, Burrow transformed the Bengals’ franchise and turned them into Super Bowl contenders, going to one before losing to the Los Angeles Rams. Over the last two years, he’s thrown for 69 touchdowns while leading the Bengals to back-to-back AFC North crowns.
A contract extension has always been expected. It may have taken longer than expected, though perhaps was complicated by the calf injury Burrow suffered early in training camp. He’s expected to play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, a team he’s notoriously struggled against.
Now, Burrow is locked into Cincinnati on a record contract. The Bengals are again AFC North favorites though they’ll face heavy competition from everyone else in the division, including Pittsburgh.
In five starts against the Steelers, Burrow is 3-2, splitting last year’s divisional games against Pittsburgh. They beat him up in the 2022 opener, intercepting him four times and sacking him several more in a Steelers’ overtime victory. Burrow got his revenge in the rematch, throwing for 355 yards and four touchdowns in a 37-30 win.
This year, Pittsburgh won’t see Burrow and the Bengals until Week 12 in Cincinnati. They’ll face off again two days before Christmas on Saturday, December 23.
As Schefter noted, Burrow is the final of the year’s mega-contracts for quarterbacks following Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Herbert, who each set the bar above each other.
