The biggest offseason domino for the LA Chargers has officially fallen as the team has agreed to a massive contract extension with star quarterback Justin Herbert right before the start of training camp.
The extension is a five-year deal that will keep Herbert with the team through the 2029 season. ESPN's Adam Schefter and Lindsey Thiry were the first to break the news.
The next QB domino falls: Chargers and Justin Herbert reached agreement today on a landmark five-year, $262.5 million extension that ties him to the franchise through the 2029 season, sources tell me and @Lindseythiry. Deal gets done before Chargers’ first training-camp practice… pic.twitter.com/m8cYcqANtX
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 25, 2023
Herbert has an average annual salary of $52.5 million on his new contract. This officially gives Herbert the largest annual salary in the league as he narrowly surpassed Lamar Jackson's $52 million per year extension that he signed earlier this offseason, per Over The Cap. It is also the second-largest contract in NFL history, only behind Patrick Mahomes.
Herbert's deal also includes $218 million in guaranteed money, per Daniel Popper of The Athletic. This is the second-most guaranteed money in a single contract in NFL history behind Deshaun Watson's fully-guaranteed $230 million contract.
Chargers' Justin Herbert extension is extremely player-friendly
The Chargers were always going to do whatever it took to make sure that Justin Herbert was returning to the team long-term and with that, the team signed an extension that is extremely player-friendly.
Herbert and his agents got just about everything they could have possibly asked for with this new contract. Herbert was able to once again reset the quarterback market with the highest annual salary (which will likely be usurped by Joe Burrow in the coming weeks) while also getting the second-largest contract in the sport's history.
Herbert could have probably signed a contract that paid more overall than Mahomes but signing a short-term deal like this was the best-case scenario for the star quarterback. Herbert will be able to sign another contract before his age-32 season, giving him a chance to cash out a second time in his career.
By that point, the annual averages will be even higher and as long as he is still at the top of his game he will get a big deal. It is not crazy to think that by the time it is all said and done, Herbert will have earned around $600 million throughout his playing career with the LA Chargers.
And if you ask any Chargers fan, Herbert is worth every single penny.