Not showing more likely to lengthen Ja’Marr Chase and break up with Tee Higgins, the Bengals have seen their up to date plan — one that includes a hopeful long-term Higgins future in Cincinnati — produce notable progress.
After a report earlier this week indicated Higgins and the Bengals had been nonetheless far aside, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports the workforce has made “important progress” on extensions for each Chase and Higgins. As Trey Hendrickson resides in limbo due to the workforce’s renewed Higgins curiosity, Cincy might have offers finished with its longtime WR pair quickly.
Nothing is creating on the Hendrickson commerce entrance, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who provides no contract adjustment seems imminent, both. This can be the price of doing enterprise for the Bengals, who’ve set a transparent hierarchy that locations Higgins above Hendrickson within the contract queue.
In the meantime, nevertheless, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini adds the Chase and Higgins contracts ought to mix to achieve or surpass $70M per 12 months. This appeared like a situation the Bengals wished to keep away from as lately as January, when Duke Tobin stated a Higgins extension must come on the “proper quantity.” However Cincy re-tagged Higgins, as Joe Burrow ramped up stress on the group to maintain the duo collectively. The Bengals might want to pay their duo greater than the Dolphins and Eagles did their high-end tandems.
It’s price questioning if this might be one of the best ways for the Bengals to take a position, particularly contemplating nearly the whole lot had pointed to the workforce shifting on from Higgins in 2025. The workforce has a historical past with a quarterback rising annoyed with its lack of aggressiveness, nevertheless, as a Carson Palmer–Mike Brown dustup ended with the previous franchise QB traded in 2011. Tobin was with the Bengals at that time. The workforce now seems near holding Burrow’s troops collectively, probably at the price of holding Hendrickson.
Chase turned down a Bengals supply this 12 months, however after the workforce was unable to increase him earlier than the 2024 season, the market has shifted. Tobin stated he expected Chase to be the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback, after his triple-crown season upped his worth. However one other place’s market has affected this purpose. After the Raiders eclipsed Justin Jefferson‘s earlier non-QB AAV mark by paying Maxx Crosby $35.5M per 12 months, the Browns gave Myles Garrett a whopping $40M every year to again off his commerce request. The Bengals are within the crosshairs right here, as T.J. Watt, Micah Parsons and Aidan Hutchinson might change that quantity once more this offseason. Appearing early could be in Cincy’s finest pursuits now, although that has not precisely been a power as of late for the workforce.
Garrett attending to the place he did has already modified issues for the Bengals, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports the leaguewide expectation is a deal that checks in between $40.1M and $41M per 12 months. Chase wouldn’t have commanded this in 2024, however the Brown had stated by coaching camp the Bengals had been unlikely to pay their WR1 earlier than final season. Though Chase’s hold-in utilized stress that did result in negotiations, nothing commenced. Now recommitted to extending Higgins, the Bengals are set to authorize a monster Chase extension that can change their roster blueprint.
