Justin Herbert just got paid.
The Los Angeles Chargers on Tuesday announced an agreement with star quarterback Herbert on a new five-year extension. According to reports, it will make Herbert the NFL‘s highest-paid quarterback by average annual salary.
Herbert is entering his fourth NFL season and is fresh off guiding the Chargers to the postseason in 2022. Now, he’s been rewarded for three seasons of sterling performances with a contract that exceeds the deal Lamar Jackson signed with Baltimore in April.
The details of Herbert’s juicy new contract
The total value of Herbert‘s new contract with the Chargers is $262.5 million — $2.5 million more than Jackson‘s contract with the Ravens, and the second-largest contract for a quarterback in the league behind Kansas City‘s Patrick Mahomes.
Herbert led Los Angeles to 10 wins in 2022 on the strength of his 25 touchdown passes and a third consecutive season with at least 4,300 passing yards. The Chargers collapsed in the playoffs, blowing a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wild Card Weekend, but the 25-year-old escaped much of the blame for the implosion and will be hoping to guide the Chargers deeper into the postseason in 2023.
Herbert, Mahomes, and the battles to come
Herbert‘s long-term extension with the Chargers sets the stage for several more entertaining clashes with Mahomes and the Chiefs — against whom Los Angeles will be battling for AFC West supremacy.
Herbert and Mahomes side-by-side at the 2022 Pro Bowl in Las Vegas.
The Chiefs won both meetings with the Chargers in 2022, but both victories came by a single field goal. With Kansas City well on its way to establishing a new NFL dynasty, it’ll be up to signal-callers like Herbert and Cincinnati‘s Joe Burrow to slow down Mahomes in the AFC.
