Joe Burrow Rookie Cards: Everything You Need To Know

There's no doubt that Joe Burrow is one of the most promising prospects in the NFL. The Bengals first selected Burrow in 2020 based on his impressive college career, which included a national championship, the Heisman Trophy, and setting countless college football records. Typical of any first-overall draft pick, numerous collectors are willing to take a chance on Burrow's future success by investing in his rookie cards.

This guide will take a comprehensive look at the Joe Burrow rookie cards currently available and some critical considerations for collectors when deciding which ones to buy.

Is a Joe Burrow Rookie Card a good investment?

Like all collector cards, the value of a Joe Burrow rookie card will ultimately be determined by supply and demand. However, a few factors could make Burrow's cards particularly valuable in the future.

First and foremost, how will Joe Burrow's career turn out? While being the first overall pick shows a lot of promise, it's certainly no guarantee for future NFL success. A great example is Baker Mayfield, a Heisman trophy winner and first overall pick to the NFL in 2018. However, Mayfield's career has not lived up to expectations, as the Cleveland Browns recently released him. 

However, if the 2021 NFL season predicts what can be expected of Joe Burrow, it looks like he will have a much more successful career than Mayfield. After an injury-plagued rookie season, Joe Burrow put together a stellar sophomore season and turned around the Cincinnati Bengals franchise, seemingly single-handed. He led the Bengals from a record of 4-11-1 in 2020 to the Super Bowl finals in 2021.

While investing in a young NFL quarterback's career may be risky, it appears Joe Burrow has all the makings of a once-in-a-generation talent. If Burrow's career pans out, many collectors believe there's potential for his cards to be worth a lot more when his career comes to a close.

What are the most popular Joe Burrow Rookie Cards?

Next, we'll look at the current value of Joe Burrow Rookie Cards. There are over 35 Joe Burrow rookie card sets, so we'll list our favorites, starting with the most valuable collections.

1. Joe Burrow National Treasure [Patch Autograph] #156

The Joe Burrow Patch Autograph RC is one of the most valuable RCs in the last few years. The National Treasure set is one of the most popular rookie card products on the market and has been a dominant player in the football card market for many years.

The graphic for this card shows Joe Burrow in his Bengals uniform, ready to throw the ball. To the right of Burrows is a three-color jersey patch in Bengal's white, orange, and black, and then Burrows' signature is inked at the bottom of the card. The print run for this card was only 99, which makes owning a mint condition version incredibly rare. So rare, in fact, that one of these cards sold for $46,255, and an ungraded version sold for $32,100. Holding a National Treasure Joe Burrow Patch Autograph RC has proven to be a tremendous investment over the last year.

2. 2020 Joe Burrow Panini Prizm Autograph RC

One of the flagship products for Panini is the Prizm collection. Prizm is known to carry a premium value in the secondary market as they're highly sought after. The 2020 Panini Prizm Joe Burrow Rookie Card is considered one of the best-looking cards in the entire set and is an excellent addition to any collection. Add a signature to the collection, and you have a valuable Joe Burrow rookie card. The silver parallel has been one of the more valuable editions from this set, with a few ultra-rare parallels being the Snakeskin, Green Scope, and Gold Vinyl. Let's take a look at some of the parallels and their recent sales:

#307 Gold Vinyl Autograph

The Gold Vinyl Parallel is one of the most valuable Joe Burrow Rookie Card from the 2020 Panini Prizm. A Gold Vinyl Panini Prizm sold for $92,600, and to nobody's surprise, the value of this card (and all Joe Burrow RCs) spiked right before the Bengals played in the 2021 Super Bowl.

#307 Prizm Silver

The Joe Burrow #307 Prizm Silver RC saw sales as high as $4,000 in February 2022. However, the price has decreased slightly since then, and the last average sale price is around $2,700.

3. 2020 Panini Absolute Kaboom! Joe Burrow Rookie Card #KJB2

The Joe Burrow Panini Absolute Kaboom rookie card is one of the most valuable Burrow cards. It's part of the 2020 Panini Absolute set, which featured 200 cards in the main set with one rookie card in each box.

Each box holds two parallels and one insert, with the Kaboom among these choices. Pulling a Joe Burrow Kaboom RC card is rare, so they fetch a high price in the secondary market. Ungraded versions of this card have sold for $3,400, with high grades in the five-figure range.

4. Joe Burrow [Autograph] #101 2020 Panini Contenders

The Panini Contenders collection is built around a ticket-like appearance that has found tremendous success. Each box has five autographs, one of which is hard-signed. Most of these autographs are often rookie cards, and any Joe Burrow RC from this set carries significant value.

The parallels of this card come in a ticket-style format, starting with playoff tickets (/99), ticket stubs (/99), champion tickets (/49), cracked ice tickets (/22), and then Superbowl tickets (1/1).

As you can imagine, pulling the 1/1 Superbowl ticket is the most valuable and will sell for significant amounts of money.

One of the main appeals of this collection is the Rookie Ticket autograph subset, and the limited editions and parallels are some of the most valuable cards available. So, how did Joe Burrow's cards do within this collection?

The base version of Joe Burrow Auto Contender has sold for around $5,000 for a highly graded version of this card, and the parallels can go for significantly more as the supply decreases.

5. 2020 Donruss Optic Downtown

The Donruss Optic Downtown is a highly traded card that has been steadily increasing in value since Joe Burrow's rookie season. This card is unique because it features a cartoon-drawn Bengal walking in the background, giving it a fun and unique visual appeal.

The Downtown insert set is considered a case hit, increasing the rarity of these cards. The Optic Downtown's recent sales are around $4,600.

Value of Joe Burrow Rookie Cards

While landing your hands on any of the cards mentioned above would be an amazing feat, there are still plenty of valuable Joe Burrow Rookie Cards. Let's look at some Joe Burrow rookie cards flying under the radar. If you're a beginner sports card trader looking to stay within a smaller budget, these cards can be a great place to start.

1. 2020 Donruss Optic Joe Burrow RC

2020 Donruss Optic Football is a popular option among NFL collectors each year, with the 2020 collection adding a fresh chromium look. This set features a lot of colors, an extensive checklist, and on-card ink.

Since their launch, their hobby boxes have included one autograph, 14 rookie cards, and six Rated Rookie cards, plus numerous retail formats with exclusives. 2020 Donruss Optic Football brings back the main Donruss set and gives it a new chromium coat. 

With the Donruss collection having such a large print, the price is fairly reasonable. So, this card may be the one for anyone looking to get a Joe Burrow card with some shine to it. That said, some of this collection's parallels and autographed copies can still reach a few thousand dollars each. The Joe Burrow Autograph Optic RC sold for as much as $2200, with the lower graded versions selling around $1,200.

2. Joe Burrow Mosaic 2020 RC

Another potentially undervalued Joe Burrow rookie card is the Mosaic collection. Mosaic was a successful basketball card producer until the 2020 season. The launch of the Mosaic football cards was the first of the company, and it has become an immediate hit. The collection is known for its incredible parallel cards and is a popular collection for those looking for "homerun" cards.

An example is the Mosaic "White," which had 25 prints. This card has sold for $3,000, depending on the card's condition.

However, if you're looking at the value cards from the Mosaic 2020 set, you can find a mint condition card for less than $200.

3. Joe Burrow RC Panini Select #46

The Panini select made an explosive retail launch in 2020 as one of the top football card releases. The select set was built around three rookie card levels and multiple parallels and die-cuts. The design of these cards is clean, and the look was widely accepted, which led to the demand for the Select cards.

The Joe Burrow RC base select cards can be purchased for as little as $50, which can be a steal if Burrow pans out as an elite quarterback in the NFL. However, the parallels from this set are where the true value lies. A grade of 10 Concourse Silver cards has been bought for around $200, giving you a rare RC card at an affordable price.

Investing in Joe Burrow's Legacy

There you have it! A breakdown of Joe Burrow's rookie cards, starting with some of the most valuable from the 2020 season and then touching on some potential hidden gems with the value picks.

Again, Burrow is still a young quarterback in the NFL and has had a history of injury issues, so it's very difficult to predict where his career will go from here.

Reason for optimism

One of the main reasons for optimism surrounding the value of Joe Burrow's rookie cards stems from his current playing situation. The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the most promising teams in the NFL, as shown in the 2022 season when they played in the Super Bowl and lost by only a field goal. The Bengals' young core is led by Burrow and features NFL stars like Joe Mixon, Ja'Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson, and Tee Higgins.

If the Bengals can turn into a dynasty, the young Joe Burrow may have a hall of fame career ahead of him, making the early RC investors long-term winners.