Bengals’ Joe Burrow is BENCHED throughout dismal efficiency vs. Browns simply days after inking report $275m deal to turn into NFL’s highest-paid star

Joe Burrow became the NFL’s highest-paid player on Friday, although, two days later, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was benched in his workforce’s opening recreation of the season.

After struggling to grip the soccer on a moist day in Cleveland, the 26-year-old took a seat in the course of the fourth quarter of the Bengals’ 24-3 loss to the Browns in what was the a centesimal assembly between the 2 Buckeye State rivals.

It is at present unclear if Cincinnati’s head coach Zac Taylor made the choice to insert backup Jake Browning as a consequence of an damage sustained by Burrow. The previous LSU star strained his calf throughout coaching camp and was largely inactive this preseason earlier than taking the sphere in opposition to the Browns on Sunday.

On Friday, the previous No. 1 draft decide inked a five-year extension value as much as $275 million with $219M assured. 

Remarkably, the deal offers Burrow a record-breaking $55M common annual wage.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow (L) was benched within the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Browns

By the point he left the sphere, Burrow had solely thrown 31 makes an attempt for 14 completions and no TDs

‘I’ve all the time been fairly good at compartmentalizing issues which might be essential to me,’ stated Burrow at a press convention on Saturday, insisting that negotiations for his huge, current payday weren’t a distracted forward of the Bengals’ first recreation of the 2023-24 NFL season. 

‘I work actually laborious to carry out properly on the sphere and suppose quite a bit about how I deal with myself and the way I could be the very best me for this group,’ Burrow added. ‘ So to be rewarded for it means quite a bit to me — however (there’s) much more to do.’

Burrow, who entered his fourth NFL season on Sunday, has reversed the Bengals’ fortunes whereas incomes a status as a decisive and inventive chief with a knack for determining how one can decide up yards when performs break down. 

He has led Cincinnati to 2 straight AFC North titles and a Tremendous Bowl look following the 2021 season. 

Burrow has been by bothered by a calf pressure throughout many of the offseason, liming his skill to coach as a lot as he’d need to

Signing the 2022 Professional Bowler and 2021 AP NFL Comeback Participant of the 12 months to an extension was a aim of the workforce all summer season, and Burrow did not waver from his need to spend the remainder of his profession in Cincinnati. 

‘A really well-deserved day for Joe,’ Bengals coach Zac Taylor stated previous to Sunday’s loss to Cleveland. ‘He is a man who represented all the things we need to be about. It is on the sphere as a soccer participant, it is off the sphere within the locker room, it is within the classroom as a scholar of the sport.’ 

Burrow, who’s been sidelined with a nagging calf damage for many of the summer season, solely returned to follow final week. 

He threw 31 makes an attempt for 14 completions (45.2 %) and no touchdowns in opposition to the Browns on Sunday. What’s extra, is that Cincinnati’s No. 9 solely threw for 82 passing yards. 

The Bengals subsequent face the Ravens in what might be their first dwelling recreation of the season on September 17. Followers might be hoping to see a change for fortunes for Burrow, who will usually function within the workforce’s subsequent matchup.