In his first press conference of the 2023 regular season, Joe Burrow stated on Wednesday that he wasn’t concerned about when his contract extension would be finalized, though he was probably aware that it was approaching. Not much more time passed.

The Cincinnati Bengals extended their belief that they will have a chance to win titles for as long as they have their franchise quarterback playing for them by signing him to a five-year, $275 million contract ($219 million guaranteed). This deal makes him the highest paid player in the league.

Bengals supporters can now relax knowing that the contract is finalized just three days before the team’s opening game against Cleveland, despite hopes that it would be completed before training camp. Burrow’s contract is larger than Justin Herbert’s, who set the previous record in July when he received a five-year, $262.5 million contract extension from the Los Angeles Chargers.

Regarding the lessons discovered during the negotiating process, Burrow stated on Wednesday, “You definitely realize it’s a business.” But we’re professional football players at the end of the day. There are some of my closest friends and wonderful people with me. As I previously stated, it’s the cherry on top.

The Bengals are rewarding Burrow for his remarkable performance over the last two seasons, which included leading the team to back-to-back AFC North division titles and consecutive trips to the AFC Championship game. His 606 pass attempts in 2022, 414 completions in 2022, 4,611 passing yards in 2021, 35 touchdown passes in 2022, and 108.3 passer rating in 2021 are the team’s single-season records.