New Joe Burrow contract extends window of championship opportunity

The offseason drama is out of the way for the Cincinnati Bengals, as they inked Joe Burrow to a five-year extension worth $275 million. The franchise quarterback is staying in Cincinnati for another five years. He's also the highest-paid player in the league.

Yes, the Bengals are going to have to pay Burrow a boatload of cash but there are only maybe three or four NFL teams who wouldn't switch places with the Stripes in a heartbeat. Burrow is special and he proved that in just the second year of his pro career when he led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl appearance since the late 1980s.

What this extension does is it keeps Burrow in the Queen City and pays him like the player that he is. He's one of the league's best bargains now but as other teams with young franchise signal-callers are finding out, you can't keep that guy on a rookie deal forever. It was the Bengals' turn to pay Burrow and they did that, which, as he once said, as long as he's playing, the team has a chance to win Super Bowls.

Bengals championship window just got longer

We saw just this past season that just because a team finally has to pay their star quarterback, it doesn't take them out of Super Bowl contention. Patrick Mahomes was only in the first year of his 10-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs and they even had to get rid of their best wide receiver but still won it all. This is hopefully going to be the case with Burrow and the Bengals too.

Yes, the Bengals are probably going to have to part ways with a beloved player or two (or three, or four, you get the idea) but the most important player is under contract for the next five years. As long as Joe Burrow is quarterbacking the Cincinnati Bengals, they're a Super Bowl contender.