The Cincinnati Bengals have reached agreements with wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase to keep them both in orange and black for the foreseeable future.
Chase has signed a 4 year, $161M contract extension which includes $112M in guaranteed money. His AAV of $40.25M sets a new NFL record for a non-quarterback in terms of average salary, eclipsing the $40M mark which Myles Garrett recently set. The 25 year old won the receiving triple crown in 2024, leading all players in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving touchdowns (17).
Meanwhile, Higgins has agreed to a 4 year, $115M contract extension, which is guaranteed for the first two years of the pact before giving the team any potential outs. His $28.75M AAV is the highest figure for a “WR2” in the modern NFL.
The 26 year old was dealt with a variety of injuries last season, limiting him to just 12 appearances. However, he remained extremely productive while on the field, despite Chase’s dominant campaign, posting the 10th most receiving yards per game (75.9) amongst wideouts.
The new deals are sure to keep both fans, and QB Joe Burrow happy, as the talented pass catchers will keep Cincinnati’s offence amongst the best in the league. Burrow had been openly campaigning for his WRs to be paid throughout much of the offseason, telling reporters at the Pro Bowl “We have several guys like [Chase] who have stepped up for us and deserved to be paid. And deserve to be paid what they’re worth.”
The new deals do however create some interesting salary cap implications for Cincinnati moving forward, which may make it difficult to create a balanced roster around the trio of Burrow, Chase and Higgins. Especially on the defensive side of the ball, an area which the Bengals sorely needed to address this offseason.
Between the three, Burrow (5 year, $275M deal), Chase (4 year, $161M deal) and Higgins (4 year, $115M deal) account for $551M in salary alone. Their combined AAV totals are just as eye popping, coming in at $124M per season.
While there are some cap maneuvering measures which the Bengals front office can put into place to mitigate that figure, the fact remains that Cincinnati’s season will live and die annually on the health and production of their “Big 3”.
Working in the Bengals favour at the moment is the fact that they have the 4th lowest “dead cap” hit in the NFL at $6.6M for 2025. Nevertheless, it will be difficult for the team to add many impact players via free agency in the future with so much of their 53 man roster tied up in 3 players.
This will put added pressure on GM Duke Tobin and his scouts to ensure they hit a home run in the next several NFL drafts, bringing in cost effective rookies who can contribute right away. The Bengals currently own 6 picks in upcoming NFL Draft, including the 17th overall selection.
Bengals 2025 Draft Picks
- Round 1, Pick 17
- Round 2, Pick 49
- Round 3, Pick 81
- Round 4, Pick 119
- Round 5, Pick 153
- Round 6, Pick 193
That being said, Bengals fans can likely stomach the impending salary cap headaches to finally put the year long contract saga between Chase, Higgins and the front office behind them.
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