Bengals' Joe Burrow Says He Celebrated Record $275M Contract for 'About 5 Minutes'

When your nickname is Joe Cool, there's no point in wasting time commemorating things like signing the richest contract in NFL history.

Speaking to reporters after officially signing his extension with the Cincinnati Bengals, Joe Burrow said he only took about five minutes to celebrate.

"Take a deep breath," he said when asked after the deal was agreed to. "Celebrate for about five minutes then you got to continue about your weekly process. It's game week."

Burrow agreed to a five-year, $275 million deal with $219.01 million guaranteed on Thursday. He signed the deal on Saturday, about 24 hours before the Bengals begin the 2023 regular season.

While there never seemed to be a question about if Burrow and the Bengals would work out a new deal, there were probably some nerves for Cincinnati fans when it got this close to the start of the season without an agreement.

Burrow not only secured his long-term future as a member of the Bengals with this deal, but he also reset the quarterback market. His $55 million average annual salary leads the NFL. It's also a significant increase from where the market was at.

Jalen Hurts was briefly the highest-paid quarterback by average annual salary at $51 million when he signed his deal with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this offseason. Lamar Jackson surpassed that at $52 million per season on his extension with the Baltimore Ravens.

Justin Herbert beat Jackson's average annual salary by $500,000 on his five-year, $262.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Chargers. The $2.5 million bump from Herbert to Burrow is the single-biggest jump in quarterback contracts since Josh Allen surpassed Dak Prescott by $3 million in 2021.

Patrick Mahomes' $450 million deal remains the richest contract by total value in the NFL.

Burrow has completely transformed the Bengals franchise since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2020. The 26-year-old has led them to back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances and a trip to Super Bowl 56. He has thrown for at least 4,400 yards and 34 touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.

The Bengals went 31 years without a playoff victory before their 26-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in the AFC Wild Card game in January 2022.