When asked about his contract extension talks with the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this offseason, Joe Burrow hinted that all involved have been sworn to secrecy.
That secretive nature of the negotiations from both parties continued into this week when team president Mike Brown met with the media at the annual pre-training camp luncheon.
Understandably asked about the situation, Brown reinforced the vow.
“I have bound myself not to talk about Joe’s contract. I don’t think it’s helpful for the negotiations,” Brown said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “The other side has made the same commitment and they have not broken it. That one comes close. I could answer that and they might think that is talking about the negotiation so I’m going to beg off.”
It’s a smart move for all parties in general, though especially so on an extension as complicated as the one Burrow will get. A deal that will both make Burrow the highest-paid passer in the league, yet remain “team-friendly” in a Mahomes style so that the team can afford to keep everyone together isn’t an easy feat to pull off. No need to muddy things up by leaking details to the public.
That friendly deal is the expectation, at least. When Burrow revealed the vow of secrecy a few months back, he did happen to reveal that he’s keeping the team’s ability to keep all the weapons around him on his mind, too.
