Bengals sound ready to pay Joe Burrow this offseason

The Cincinnati Bengals sound ready to pay star quarterback Joe Burrow some big bucks following Sunday's frustrating 23-20 AFC Championship Game loss at the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor admitted Monday he believes "that starts now internally" when asked about Burrow being eligible for a second NFL contract this offseason. 

"And as you go forward, you get a chance to start talking about Joe and all the other players who are up," Taylor remarked. 

Burrow, the first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft, successfully returned from the torn ACL and MCL in his left knee that prematurely ended his rookie season and then guided the Bengals to Super Bowl LVI, where Cincinnati fell to the Los Angeles Rams last February. The 26-year-old then helped the Bengals claim the AFC North title with a 12-4 record this season before Cincinnati defeated the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills in the playoffs.  

It's widely assumed Burrow could become one of the NFL's highest-paid players this spring or summer. For a piece published on Sunday, Vinnie Iyer of The Sporting News predicted that Burrow may receive "six years or the more popular five years" and possibly "$282 million in total contract value" with $200 million guaranteed. Last week, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio argued that the Bengals should "be the first NFL team to give a player a contract tied to the ongoing growth of the salary cap" and reward Burrow with a deal linked with a certain percentage of that cap. 

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Monday that the 2023 salary cap will be $224.8 million per club, up from $208.2 million per team for this season.  

"He’s everything we want to be about," Taylor added about Burrow. "He’s a hard worker. He cares about his teammates. He cares about where he’s from — Ohio. This fanbase, I think he represents us the right way. And so, we take a lot of pride in having Joe Burrow as our quarterback." 

Burrow could also be a Most Valuable Player come February 2024. According to ESPN, he ended this past regular season sixth among qualified players with a 100.8 passer rating, 10th with a 58.6 total QBR, second with a 68.3% completion percentage, tied for second with 35 passing touchdowns, fifth with 4,475 passing yards, and tied for 10th with an average of 7.4 yards per pass attempt. 

The Bengals have until May 1 to pick up the fifth-year option attached to Burrow's rookie contract but could sign him to an extension before then.