Joe Mixon's Sizable Pay Cut Hopefully Means Joe Burrow's Mega Contract Is Imminent
Until RapSheet reported the details of Joe Mixon's pay cut, it didn't seem worth getting too excited about. Then again, Bengals fans will take any and all news that points to the tort-iest of movements toward Joe Burrow's second contract.
Cincinnati isn't the cheapskate football operation of yesteryear. The intention is likely to make Burrow the highest-paid player in the NFL once he puts pen to paper. It's just a matter of language, fully guaranteed money, and frankly, the fact that Justin Herbert is up for an extension at the same time is an additional complication.
Mixon was due to be a cap hit of nearly $13 million in 2023 and would've been just above that next season had he not reworked his deal. He was due a $9.4 million base salary this year and $9.68 million in 2024. The shelf life for running backs is especially short. They're viewed as the most replaceable position in football. Elite talents like Saquon Barkley can't get the money they want. In that context, Mixon's sacrifice is all the more admirable.
Burrow has said that he'll make sure to get a fair deal worthy of his elite quarterbacking status, but will do all he can to make sure the Bengals keep as much of their core as possible. Wide receiver Tee Higgins is entering a contract year, along with linebacker Logan Wilson. Ja'Marr Chase is due for second-deal negotiations after the 2023 campaign ends.
Surprisingly, Germaine Pratt took a home-team discount to remain in Cincinnati when he could've gotten more in free agency. That will, in all likelihood, make Wilson last in line at the negotiating table. The primary objective is to hammer out Burrow's historic extension, lock in Higgins, and leave enough room for Chase to be the highest-paid receiver in the league. Doable but not easy.
Given that the Bengals have the least-liquid ownership in the NFL — not counting the non-owner Packers — the guarantees on Burrow's deal could be a sticking point. This outline of a six-year, $330 million deal may not be the most realistic, but I'd like to think it's possible:
In a TikTok from several months back, I projected Burrow at seven years, $360 million.
For those saying Cincinnati wouldn't put up this kind of money, Orlando Brown Jr's contract may very well be the template the team uses to flesh out the more complex extensions for Burrow, Higgins and Chase. That deal was frontloaded as hell.
Paying Joey B handsomely upfront with a more team-friendly structure in the later years of his new contract should be the way the Bengals go about it. The QB market will only keep growing. Patrick Mahomes will need a reworked deal of his own in the next year or two despite being signed through 2031. Burrow will look like a steal by 2027 or '28 to the point where he'll need to renegotiate, too.
Thanks to the new 11-year, $110 billion media rights deal that kicks in starting this season, NFL revenue and the salary cap will skyrocket. It's actually fortunate for the Bengals that they're at the very beginning of that with Burrow and his top two wideouts next up for massive paydays. These are points I've discussed before several months back. Worth raising again.
I think it's ambitious to expect that, across the next two offseasons, Cincinnati will have enough room for Burrow, Higgins, Chase, Wilson and elite defensive tackle D.J. Reader. To lose only Wilson from that group would be quite a feat.
Rookies report to training camp a week from today. Veterans on July 25. Who Deyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.