How do extensions work?

[*ochocincos*]

(02-01-2023, 02:30 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: I’m in this camp, and not sure if it’s possible.  

Give him the average of the top 5 qb salaries each year and guarantee it for 5-6 years.  This allows him to continue to ride the wave of increasing contracts, but allows the bengals a slight discount in knowing he is taking a discount.

Joe Burrow could probably get money to be the highest-paid QB in the league based on AAV.
The Bengals don't have the pure cash to give him a lot of guaranteed money, so they'll have to (try to) offset that by front-loading or balancing his cap hit so he isn't in a potential situation toward the end of his contract where he could get let go and miss out on the rest of his contract.

To the OP, the nice thing about extensions is you can be flexible with how everything impacts the current contract.
You can give some of the money into the remaining year(s) of the current contract so that it lessens the overall cap hit down the road. However, that increases the cap hit in the short-term.