The Bengals broke the bank.
The Cincinnati Bengals have reached long-term contract extensions with both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, according to multiple reports.
Chase’s deal is for four years and $161 million and will make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, according to NFL Network.
Higgins will sign for four years and $115 million, according to the report.
“We’re paying guys for what they’re going to give us,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the league’s scouting combine in February. “We’re not just paying guys for what they’ve already done.”
The news on Chase doubles down on a Friday report that he was expected to sign a deal worth between $40.2 million and $41 million per season.
The deal keeps Cincinnati’s top two receivers and the core of the Bengals’ high powered passing game intact alongside quarterback Joe Burrow, who has been outspoken in advocating for Chase and Higgins to get new contracts, now has his top targets secured and taken care of.
“We have several guys like [Chase] who have stepped up for us and deserved to be paid,” Burrow told ESPN at the Pro Bowl Games in January. “And deserve to be paid what they’re worth.”
The winding road to Chase’s potentially huge windfall was long and contentious. He used his leverage by staging a “hold-in” last training camp, where he showed up to practice but did not take the field.
That made for some awkward press conferences with coach Zac Taylor. Chase was on a four-year rookie deal and the Bengals picked up the option on a fifth year (2025) that was scheduled to pay him $21 million. He pocketed $9.8 million last season. In response to the spicey summer, Chase had the best season of his NFL career.
Embed from Getty ImagesChase, who turned 25 on March 1, won the league’s triple crown for wide receivers, where he led the league in touchdowns (17), receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,708). It was the first time a receiver achieved the feat since the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp in 2021.
His best game of the 2024 season was against their arch rival the Baltimore Ravens in November, when he hauled 11 catches for 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a tight 35-34 defeat on the road.
“He’s a fantastic football player,” Tobin said at the NFL scouting combine. “He’s going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-QB in the league. We’re there. Let’s get it done.”
They eventually got it done.
Getting a deal done with Higgins was similar to Chase’s, not easy to say the least. Higgins played on the franchise tag last season and was slapped with the franchise tag for a second straight season earlier this month. Under the tag, Higgins would have been due $26.2 million for the 2025 season.
He now has the long-term deal that he has been waiting for with the Bengals. Higgins earned $21.8 million on the franchise tag in 2024 and played on a four-year, $8.7 million rookie contract prior to that.
He responded to news of the deal Sunday on social media.
Higgins, 26, is a five-year NFL veteran who has played his entire career with Cincinnati since the Bengals selected him with the first pick of the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Clemson. He has emerged as one of the NFL’s best No. 2 options playing alongside Chase.
In 12 games last season, Higgins tallied 73 catches for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns.
With Chase and Higgins now under new multiyear deals, Cincinnati has the playmakers to rebuild its status as a title contender.
