Throughout the entire bargaining process, Joe Burrow strongly believed that Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins would re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals on long-term contract extensions. And on Sunday night, news broke that the Bengals signed Chase and Higgins to new contract extensions. In total, their contract extensions combined for $276 million across four years.
Score: pic.twitter.com/nkFbseGO8n
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 17, 2025
After signing Burrow to a five-year, $275 million extension, the Bengals aren’t necessarily swimming in cash.
The Bengals have the 15th lowest cap total at $28.37 million compared to the rest of the NFL.
And with Trey Hendrickson still awaiting a contract extension after Chase and Higgins signed for a combined $276 million, some could argue that these were the right moves depending on the stance.
On one side of the coin, it’s a major investment offensively, as the Bengals have 33.7% of their 2025 cap space taken up by three players, per Spotrac. Building a roster like that could cause the Bengals to neglect their defense, which could be the wrong way to build a team.
However, with the remainder of free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft ahead, the Bengals could look completely different by the start of the regular season.
With that, what grade does each extension get for the freshly extended Bengals receivers?
Grading Ja’Marr Chase’s 4-year, $161 million contract extension with Bengals
Grade: A+
As one of the best receivers in the NFL — if not the best — it was a no-brainer for the Bengals to sign Ja’Marr Chase to a contract extension.
Now, some could argue that Chase got overpaid, but he’s one of those players who you can hand a blank check and be okay with whatever the outcome is.
Justin Jefferson signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension in 2024. At the time, Jefferson became the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
Only one year later — after the NFL salary cap increased by over $22 million — it’s Chase’s turn to be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
And as a reigning triple-crown receiver, he is at the top of his game at 25 years old.
11 catches
Despite the loss, Ja’Marr Chase put up video game numbers
@Real10jayy__ pic.twitter.com/a1gDiuDk3D
— NFL (@NFL) November 8, 2024
Chase has been a Pro Bowler each year, earning one first-team All-Pro and one second-team All-Pro nod throughout his four seasons with the Bengals.
Looking through his stats, the No. 5 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft‘s worst season is either 2022 or 2023, and neither were bad years at all.
- 2022: 87 receptions, 1,046 yards, 9 TDs
- 2023: 100 receptions, 1,216 yards, 7 TDs
When a receiver’s worst season is still over 1,000 yards and nearly 10 touchdowns, it’d be a cardinal sin to let that type of talent walk out the door.
And for a franchise that’s categorized as being cheap, it would be an even worse look for them if their contract negotiations resulted in him joining a new team once his contract expired.
On top of everything mentioned, players like Chase don’t grow on trees.
For as long as he’s a productive superstar, he should remain on their payroll.
Once his production starts declining, then they can start playing hardball with him. But until then, Mike Brown should get familiar with paying Chase millions and millions of dollars for years to come.
Grading Tee Higgins’ 4-year, $115 million contract extension with Bengals
Grade: C+ to B
Now, here’s where it gets tricky.
Is Tee Higgins a good receiver? Absolutely.
Could he be replaced in the 2025 NFL Draft? Probably not entirely.
Would re-signing him mean they miss out on bringing back Trey Hendrickson? Potentially.
So, was signing Tee Higgins to a contract extension smart for the Bengals? Let’s talk.
If I were running the Bengals — which I’m most certainly not — I’d be more inclined to potentially trade Higgins for a second-round pick or so, garnering draft capital for him while hopefully alleviating my — well, Cincinnati’s — cap space situation to bring back Hendrickson.
After leading the league in sacks with 17.5 in 2024, he accounted for nearly half of the Bengals’ total on the year.
- Trey Hendrickson: 17.5 sacks
- The rest of the Bengals’ defense: 18.5 sacks
At the same time, the Bengals are a pass-first offense, making the receiver talent in their locker room more important to them specifically.
With Burrow as their quarterback, it makes sense to want to pass more frequently, but he’s also a huge cap hit to the Bengals.
They’re essentially in a spot where they must find cheap defensive talent to pair with their high-paid offense.
It’s essentially the inverse of capitalizing on a quarterback’s rookie contract, but they need multiple young, cheap players instead of one.
Now — with Burrow, Chase, and Higgins paid handsomely — their eyes turn to drafting defensive studs and utilizing their rookie contracts.
Signing both of these receivers to massive extensions could be a risky move by the Bengals, but if new defensive coordinator Al Golden can coach some young bucks to success, it might work out for Cincinnati.
It’s easy to say they messed up with the Higgins contract extension — and I still kind of think it was the wrong choice to extend him — but their plan is at least somewhat understandable.
While some teams say the best offense is a good defense, the Bengals are flipping that theory on its head as they head into the 2025 season with their offensive core under contract for the next few years.
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