Joe Burrow Rookie Contract Details With Bengals Revealed

As Joe Burrow said in his post-Draft interview after getting selected by the Bengals, "it's time to get to work."

The Ohio native has a chance to bring championship glory to a franchise which desperately needs a face. Thankfully, they've avoided one major potential distraction thanks to the NFL's pre-agreed upon salary slots for rookies based on draft position.

The value for the contract that Joe Burrow will eventually sign with the Bengals has been set: the four-year deal (plus a fifth year option) will be worth $36,190,137 with a $23,880,100 signing bonus.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 27, 2020

Burrow's deal is substantial, but it's still a rookie contract, which allows the Bengals to build around him for the foreseeable future. Plenty of Super Bowl winners in recent years have been teams which take advantage of a quarterback on an affordable rookie deal -- look no further than the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.

Winning a title in a QB's second or even third deal is far tougher, as franchises don't have the means to surround such a player with top talent. This is the Cowboys' current dilemma with Dak Prescott, who's set to earn close to $35 million annually at least.

Bengals finalized plans for No. 1 pick in March, opted not to tell Joe Burrow. https://t.co/cgDwkXGZdW pic.twitter.com/bxTjshi4r8
— theScore (@theScore) April 27, 2020

Coming off a 2-14 season, the Bengals have plenty of holes to fill before they can be considered a Super Bowl contender.

Signing Burrow to an affordable contract (for now) provides them a blueprint back to contention.