Justin Herbert Contract Extension

It’s official, the Chargers have signed their star QB Justin Herbert to a MASSIVE extension that will keep him in LA for the foreseeable future. Once again, another quarterback has reset the market with their latest contract. This was a contract that I was really excited to examine. Let's break it down.

Terms of the Deal

Herbert signed a 5-year/$262.5M extension that will keep him under contract through the 2029 season. This deal includes a $16,128,376 signing bonus, $218,738,376 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $52.5M which makes him the highest paid quarterback in the league. At signing, $133.7M is fully guaranteed and $193.7M is fully guaranteed for injury. 

Bonus Structure

There are four different bonuses built into this new contract: a $16.1M signing bonus, a $50.6M 2nd year option bonus, a $45M 3rd year option bonus, and a total of  $15M in roster bonuses in 2028/2029. The signing bonus and options bonuses were fully guaranteed at signing and all will prorate over the course of 5 seasons. 

Annual Incentives

Every Conference Championship win: $1.25M

Every Super Bowl win: $1.25M

Extra Notes

2026 P5 Salary ($24M) fully guarantees March 2025 (injury guaranteed at signing)

2027 P5 Salary ($36M) fully guarantees March 2026 (injury guaranteed at signing)

$25M of Herberts 2028 P5 Salary fully guarantees March 2027 (injury guarantees 2026)

Full No Trade Clause

Contract Table

Final Thoughts

The cap hits in this contract aren't too outlandish, especially when taking into account the jump that the cap is supposed to take in the coming years. However, it is likely that a new deal will be strung up potentially before the 2027 season as a $58.34M cap hit will probably need to be changed and I can 100% guarantee that Herbert will not have a $71M cap hit in 2028. 

As yet another quarterback resets the market, it will be interesting to see the deal that Joe Burrow signs considering he's stated multiple times he wants to do a deal that works for everybody.