When news broke that the Bengals were re-signing both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins at market-resetting WR1 and WR2 deals, it genuinely took the NFL by storm.
Now granted, most fans expected to at least see the two star receivers on the Bengals this year, with an extension for Chase widely expected while a Higgins deal was somewhat less so, but keeping the duo together? On a deal worth roughly $70 million in AAV? Goodness, few teams expected the Bengals, who have been one of the more conservative teams in the NFL, to pull off such a unique roster move.
Need proof? Look no further than Jordan Schultz’s recent inside column for Fox Sports, where the veteran reporter noted that one former GM he spoke to didn’t expect the deals to get done, as it flies in the face of the organization’s usual modus operandi.
“As great as those two guys are, I never thought those deals would get done — certainly not at those numbers. It’s not who the Bengals are; it goes against every fiber of their organizational DNA,” a former NFL general manager told FOX Sports.
“The irony is, it helps them long term. You have a great quarterback, and you’ve now told him, ‘We believe in you so much, we’re going to do something we’ve never done before.’ That matters.”
Would it have been a slap in the face to the fanbase to let Higgins go in free agency or via trade? Would Joe Burrow have been okay with the deal, as he reportedly fought for the deal? And what about Chase, who has the same agent and wanted the deals to come as a package? While it’s hard to say either way, one thing is clear: the Bengals decided to change up how they usually do business in order to keep three of their top offensive players happy. While only time will tell if this is a new era in Cincinnati or if this risk will ultimately blow up in their faces, for now, it certainly has folks all over the NFL talking for all the right reasons.
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