The most telling comment from Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow regarding his ongoing contract talks came late in his recent press conference with reporters.“I’m pretty clear on what I want in the contract and what I think is best for myself and the team,” Burrow said. “And so we’re on the road to...
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Joe Burrow knows what he wants; so what is it?
The most telling comment from Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow regarding his ongoing contract talks came late in his recent press conference with reporters.
“I’m pretty clear on what I want in the contract and what I think is best for myself and the team,” Burrow said. “And so we’re on the road to making that happen.”
I’m pretty clear on what I want in the contract.
That would be an unusual way to articulate simple monetary demands. What do I want in the contract?
Money. Lots and lots of money.
I’ve got a bias on this one. I have believed for years that the best way to strike the balance between player-friendly and team-friendly on a long-term deal for a franchise quarterback or player of similar impact is to use a percentage of the salary cap as the compensation the player receives, especially in the outer reaches of the arrangement.
For the first two or three years, everyone knows where the market is and where it’s likely heading. If the Bengals want Burrow to sign a contract that keeps him in orange and black for the rest of the decade and beyond, Burrow would (or should) “want in the contract” terms that protect him against the ongoing growth of the salary cap, and the ongoing escalation of the market.
Three years ago, when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes signed his 12-year deal, he drove the maximum APY from $35 million to $45 million. Today, that number has moved to $52 million. And Mahomes now has to wait and to hope that the Chiefs will see fit to tweak a contract that has more and more lesser players making more and more money than Mahomes.
Burrow would (or should) “want in the contract” protection against that. The logic is simple. If you want me to commit to this team for the next decade or longer, I need to know my pay will always be comparable to my peers.
One way to do that would be to tie his compensation in future years to the exclusive level of the franchise tag. A better way to do that would be to tie his compensation to the cap.
Burrow knows that the Bengals need money and cap space for other players. What’s more fair than having the Bengals know the specific cents on the dollar that will be devoted to Burrow, and in turn the specific cents on the dollar they will have for anyone/everyone else?
