Cincinnati Bengals Fans Can Breath Sigh of Relief After Rival Quarterback Signs Monster 4-Year Contract

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics
By Timothy McBride | Last updated 5/14/24

Over the course of their almost sixty-year history, the Cincinnati Bengals have certainly been one of the most frugal franchises in the entire NFL. A long list of players have left the organization after Mike Brown and company declined to provide big-time contracts and raises that the players had earned. That trend appears to be changing now that the salary cap inflation has completely changed the landscape in the league. While frugal teams used to rule the roost, monster contracts seem almost meaningless in today’s market.

Cincinnati Bengals Look Like Huge Winners on Tuesday Morning

Regardless of how good you think that superstar quarterback Joe Burrow actually is, everyone should have felt a little anxious after his record-breaking extension last year. After all, his average annual contract value of $55 million makes up 21.5% of next season’s salary cap. That is a huge amount to give to one player and it is undoubtedly the reason that this team has let superstars such as defensive tackle D.J. Reader, safety Jessie Bates, and running back Joe Mixon leave Southwest Ohio over the past few seasons.

On Tuesday, Cincinnati natives earned a little relief from those fears after the Detroit Lions gave quarterback Jared Goff an enormous contract extension totaling $212 million over a four-year window. Goff has established himself as an excellent quarterback under rising head coach Dan Campbell but is he good enough to be the second-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL? Certainly not.

This colossal contract extension is just a sign of the astronomical inflation that has hit NFL contracts over the past few seasons. Just six years ago, Aaron Rodgers was the highest-paid player in the NFL with an average salary of $33.5 million. Now, a high-end game manager like Goff is making north of $50 million? That’s almost a 67% increase in six seasons from Rodgers’ contract to Burrow’s now.

What does that mean? The realistic approach is that in another year or two, $55 million for Burrow is going to look like just as absurd of a discount as the $45 million contract that Patrick Mahomes signed in 2020. Burrow is a world-class player and at this point, the average annual value doesn’t matter nearly as much as the total contract length. After Burrow’s four-year contract extension runs its course, the organization would be wise to take a play from Kansas City and lock him down for a ten-year contract. Otherwise, he’ll sign another record deal when that contract wraps up and follow that trend deal after deal.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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