PFT: Joe Burrow 'Most Likely' to Be 1st NFL QB Get Contract Protection Based on Cap %

Players like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson have stretched the outer limits of NFL contracts, with Mahomes' 10-year, $450 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs setting the market on money per season and Watson's five-year, fully guaranteed $230 deal setting the market for guaranteed money.

And Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow could be the next player to establish a new standard in NFL contracts and seek a percentage of his team's salary cap rather than a fixed monetary figure:

"Currently, Burrow is the quarterback most likely to be the first one to get future protection based on cap percentage. He's got the nonchalant, understated confidence to "make it pretty clear on what I want," if that's what he wants. And the Bengals are sufficiently determined to keep him for the rest of his career (they've already sold stadium naming rights to raise more money to pay him) that they'll consider anything he asks for."

While such a deal isn't standard practice in the NFL, it's how max contracts work in the NBA. The issue with fixed deals is that other contracts signed later reset the market, meaning within few years a contract can look out of date, especially as the salary cap rises due to increasing revenue.

Such an issue doesn't occur, however, if a player gets a guaranteed percentage of a team's salary cap. It's likely the next frontier for NFL contracts, and a young superstar like Burrow would make sense to establish such a standard.