Justin Herbert will get paid. The question is: When and exactly how much?
Nine quarterbacks currently make an annual average of at least $40 million led by Aaron Rodgers at $50.271 million.
The Chargers are negotiating with Herbert, who is eligible for a new deal after three seasons.
“I don’t have an update on it,” General Manager Tom Telesco told SiriusXM NFL Radio. “There’s a lot that will go into it, obviously, with these type of contracts and the amount of numbers that it’s going to be. It’s just a good problem to have to know you have a franchise quarterback that’s now moving into a veteran franchise quarterback. There are a lot of good things that come with that. Now, the flip side is, we’ll build the team a little bit differently. We’ll transition to that in the next couple of years.
“I’m not losing a lot of sleep over it. Yeah, I know the numbers are going to be big. He’s earned it, but we think we can win a Super Bowl with him. That’s a good problem to have. We’ll get it done at some point, and then we’ll go from there.”
A first playoff win would be a start.
The Chargers ended a three-year playoff drought last season but then blew a 27-point lead to lose to the Jaguars in the wild-card round. The team is only 25-25, including the playoff loss, with Herbert as quarterback despite his winning 2020 offensive rookie of the year and earning the nod as the starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl his second season.
He has 94 touchdowns and 35 interceptions in his career.