CINCINNATI — The Bengals reportedly signed Joe Burrow to the largest contract in NFL history by average annual value on Thursday ($55 million), but The Volume's John Middlekauf isn't impressed.
The former NFL scout thinks the team took away from the NFL's opening night and stole some usual shine from Burrow if it happened during the middle of the day.
"Could you be any more of a loser than Mike Brown?" Middlekauff said. "Opening Night? Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes is about to take the snap. And Adam Schefter gets the contract, and I don't blame him for breaking the news. The Bengals did that sh*t on purpose. Congrats to Joe Burrow got a historic amount of money. Well, I guess not quite Deshaun Watson (money), but to leak that out in the middle of the game. Honestly, what the f*ck are we doing? If I'm the league and Rog (Roger Goodell) I'd be furious. Like, if I'm Joe you know, more of a low-key guy. So it's actually probably nice that it kind of flies under the radar because everyone's gonna be talking about the game. Why not give your guy some shine and do this in the middle of the day, I don't know tomorrow?"
Burrow is now the highest-paid player in Cincinnati sports history after eclipsing Joey Votto's total contract with Cincinnati Reds ($251.5 million) signed in 2012.
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