After months of discussions surrounding the contracts of Cincinnati Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the team finally found a resolution. The Bengals re-signed Chase and Higgins to four-year extensions, keeping Cincinnati’s offensive core together.
Head coach Zac Taylor is glad the two wideouts got paid. “It’s great to see these two guys be rewarded. Their hard work, commitment to their craft and dedication to our team make this an exciting day for all of us. We look forward to a great future with this duo helping lead the way,” Taylor said of the re-signings, per NFL insider Tom Pelissero on X.
Taylor coached the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021 and he hopes keeping Chase and Higgins with quarterback Joe Burrow will result in Cincinnati winning the first championship in the history of the franchise.
The Bengals paid Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins
The Bengals signed Chase to a record-breaking $161 million contract. The deal includes $112 million guaranteed and makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in football history. Chase will average $40.25 million per season. Higgins also did well, agreeing to a $115 million extension that will bring in $28.75 million per year.
While the Bengals could have saved money by signing Chase to a long-term extension last offseason – before he won the receiving triple crown in 2024 – the team is glad the contract stalemate with both players is over. It turns out that Higgins’ decision to switch agents played a major role in resolving the impasse.
Higgins decided to fire his agent and sign with Chase’s representative, Rocky Arceneaux of Alliance Sports. Once both receivers had the same agent, the plan became to do both deals, not one or the other. And it worked. The Bengals found a way to bring Chase and Higgins back.
The re-signings are clearly a relief to Burrow, who had an MVP-caliber season in 2024 despite Cincinnati missing the playoffs. However, the team did not address its ongoing stalemate with star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season and he’s looking for a new contract. The team has been hesitant to hand him a new deal and instead granted him permission to explore a potential trade. With both Chase and Higgins making big money on their new contracts and Burrow entering year three of his $275 million deal, there simply won’t be enough left over to pay Hendrickson what he wants.
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