Two of the big four quarterback contract extensions have been taken care of this offseason in Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson. All eyes are now on Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow in the coming months, as the 2020 first-round picks are next in line to receive massive paydays.
For the Los Angeles Chargers, it would make financial sense to pay Herbert before Burrow. There is a barometer in average annual salary for Hebert, as Jackson used the $52 million in average annual salary to surpass Hurts in his $51 million per season -- just 10 days after Hurts signed his extension.
Will the Chargers use that same standard to get Herbert's deal done?
"Any time there is a contract signed at that position, it's going to come up in conversation," Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said to Sirius XM NFL Radio. "I wouldn't say there is any quarterback contract out there that is a blueprint. I wouldn't say that at all. Like anything else, there'll be contracts that'll be talked about. We'll cherry-pick some things out of that contract we like. The agent will cherry-pick some things out of that contract that he likes.
"In the end, we'll get to a compromise at some point, something that works for everybody. That's what we'll do here. I don't know when. I don't really have a timeframe for it, to be honest with you, but we'll get there."
Hebert is coming off his first playoff appearance in his three-year career, continuing to set new benchmarks for quarterbacks. He has 14,089 passing yards through three seasons, the most ever for a quarterback. Herbert's 1,316 completions are also the most for a quarterback through his first three seasons, while his 94 passing touchdowns trail only Dan Marino in that span. The 13 game-winning drives trail only Dak Prescott for the most in NFL history after three seasons.
Herbert completed 68.2% of his passes for 4,739 yards last season, but had a career-low 25 touchdown passes (and only threw 10 interceptions). The 93.2 passer rating was also a career low, but Herbert continues to be one of the best passers in the game.
An extension will get done soon, but the Chargers would have paid Herbert less if the front office got his deal done a month ago.
