The Cincinnati Bengals are dealing with potential exoduses this offseason. Their star quarterback Joe Burrow wants the team to do everything it can to keep their stars.
Burrow has even offered to go to great lengths himself.
News emerged on Wednesday saying that Burrow is willing to make adjustments to his current contract in order to let the team spend to keep its best players on the team. Specifically Tee Higgins, a pending free agent, and Ja’Marr Chase, who wants to go back to the negotiating table. Burrow discussed the potential adjustments on the Pardon My Take podcast.
“You could convert some of the money to a signing bonus, which will lower the cap hit. You can push some of the money to the back end of the contract,” the Bengals quarterback suggested via ESPN.com. “That lowers the cap hit. And then when you get to the back end of the contract, you can restructure it and convert it to a signing bonus. You can also just take less money.”
Since the Bengals took him first overall in 2020, Burrow has met the moment of being a franchise quarterback. The former LSU standout led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since the 1988 season in 2021. There, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams, but the showcase meant quite a lot.
Burrow and the Bengals returned to the AFC Championship Game the ensuing season. However, the Kansas City Chiefs took them down in a rematch of the previous year’s AFC Championship. Since then, Cincinnati has missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
Frustrations have since mounted and contracts haven’t been inked up yet. Higgins is intending to hit free agency and may not be back in Cincy. Chase wants what he wants, and while he’s under contract, his status is up in the air also.
At least in Burrow‘s case, he can’t say he didn’t try to offer something if it doesn’t go down.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022