Justin Fields is entering the third year of his NFL career with revised help in every facet of the offense. Will he establish himself as a successful quarterback and earn an extension? What would that even look like?
Benchmarks
From 2016-2020, eighteen quarterbacks were drafted in the first round. Ten either had their fifth-year option picked up or had major extensions in place before the fifth year: Burrow, Tagovailoa, Herbert, Murray, Allen, Jackson, Mahomes, Watson, Goff, and Wentz.
An eleventh (Daniel Jones) ended up receiving a major extension after not having his fifth-year option picked up; it came after he managed a 92.