The Cincinnati Bengals have earned a reputation as one of the more frugal franchises in the NFL. However, their brass has made it clear the Bengals will not be penny pinching when it comes to signing quarterback Joe Burrow to a long-term extension.

After a rapid rise that has seen Burrow establish himself as one of the league’s premier quarterbacks, the 2020 first overall pick is poised to receive a contract that reflects his value.

That contract does not appear set to be finalized imminently, but one of the members of the Bengals’ hierarchy negotiating with Burrow made it clear the deal will be extremely large.

Asked about the contract numbers, Cincinnati’s director of player personnel Duke Tobin told The Pat McAfee Show (h/t ProFootballTalk): “We’ve looked at a lot of different things. Thankfully, Katie’s [Blackburn, executive vice president] on top of that one.

“She’s the one that keeps us on track with the salary cap. Not only for this year, but for future years. So everything we do, and we’re looking now, but these dollars count, if you’re not counting them this year, you’re gonna count them next year, and the year after. So every dollar that goes out counts. So it’s a pie.

“Just how big of a piece of the pie, you know, the only thing I can predict with the contract is it’s gonna be a sizable amount of money, and he’s not going to be asking any of you for loans anytime soon. He’ll be paid well and he’s earned it.”

Burrow’s performance in getting the Bengals to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season and back to the AFC Championship Game last campaign is certainly worthy of a substantial slice of pie.

Per rbsdm.com, Burrow’s Completion Percentage Over Expectation (CPOE) of 4.6 over the last two seasons is second only to Geno Smith (5.8). In the composite metric that combines Expected Points Added per play with CPOE, Burrow trails just Patrick Mahomes over that two-season span.

Having consistently gone toe to toe with Mahomes and Chiefs and prevailed until last season’s AFC Championship Game, Burrow can claim his Kansas City counterpart’s average annual salary of $45 million should be considered his minimum price.

The reality is he can command significantly more than that. Spotrac puts his market value at an average annual salary of $53.7 million, which would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL.

It is tough to argue against him receiving such a contract given Lamar Jackson was handed a deal paying him $52 million a year despite injury struggles in recent seasons. Jalen Hurts’ new average salary of $51 million following his lucrative extension this offseason only serves to strengthen Burrow’s hand.

The Bengals are not the team many would typically expect to make a player the highest-paid in football. They will likely need to get creative with the contract structure to save some money for extensions for Burrow’s key targets, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, yet the emergence of their quarterback as an efficient and devastatingly accurate passer may have left them with no choice but to ensure his deal surpasses those of Jackson and Hurts.