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Ben Baby, ESPN Staff Writer
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals have secured the future for their long-term quarterback.
Joe Burrow reached an agreement on a five-year, $275 million extension that includes $219.01 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid player in NFL history, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.
The contract, which averages $55 million per year, ends months of negotiations and rewards a player who has flipped Cincinnati’s fortunes.
In 2019, the Bengals were the NFL’s worst team and finished the season with two wins, matching the lowest total in franchise history. That put them in position to draft Burrow, who led LSU to a national championship and won the Heisman Trophy.
After Burrow’s rookie season was derailed by a season-ending ACL and MCL injury in his left knee, he rebounded in 2021 to lead Cincinnati in its best campaign in three decades. The Bengals won their first playoff game since January 1991 and reached the Super Bowl for the first time since 1989. Burrow was named The Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year.
In 2022, Burrow posted his best pro season despite recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured appendix days before the start of training camp. He finished 10th in Total QBR and hit the minimum attempts threshold to be the NFL’s career leader in completion percentage (68.2%).
Burrow’s deal was reached after other top NFL quarterbacks received new contracts. In late July, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert signed a five-year deal that averaged $52.5 million a year, according to Schefter. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson also signed lucrative extensions that briefly made them the highest-paid players in league history.
Burrow’s deal has eclipsed them all. And it’s fitting given what he has accomplished in his first three seasons and how much Cincinnati values Burrow.
“He’s a motivated player, he’s a motivated teammate, he’s a motivated leader,” said Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin at the team’s annual media luncheon in July. “He puts the time in to make sure that he is ready to go and then he drives others to be ready to go.
“So all the things we liked about him from the very start have been true and he’s kept that up.”