Joe Burrow pushes the Bengals front office regarding the futures of Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase

[dex]

Paul Dehner - The Athletic:

 

CINCINNATI – During the course of his time in Cincinnati, more than a few facts have been clear about Joe Burrow’s comments with the media. He says what he means. His words are almost always said with a calculated purpose. He specifically understands the power of his voice. So, when he doubles down on a message directed at the Cincinnati Bengals front office, everyone must take close notes.

In this case, it came on New Year’s Eve at his weekly news conference, offering a resolution for an ownership group that has allowed stars Jessie Bates, DJ Reader and others to leave in recent seasons while facing another round of negotiations with star receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase this offseason.

“Whenever a great player leaves, you wish you could have found a way to keep them,” Burrow said. “You don’t want to make a living out of letting great players leave the building. I think that’s why you’ve got to do everything you can to get those deals done early.”

The last sentence hit the target like one of his 42 touchdown passes. The Bengals failed to reach the finish line on a negotiation with Chase in August that involved the star sitting out training camp and lasted until minutes before the opener against New England.

His cost is now skyrocketing as he’s on track to win the receiving triple crown. He should become the highest paid receiver in NFL history, almost certainly topping the four-year, $140 million contract signed by his former LSU teammate Justin Jefferson last summer.

They also pushed Higgins down the line, failing to sign a deal when he was first eligible for a new contract in 2023 then applying the franchise tag this past season. That move prompted a trade request the team did not fulfill. Higgins arrived on time and without complaint, though, as a full participant in camp and, despite missing five games due to injury, racked up 69 receptions for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns. At 78 yards per game, he’s tied for ninth in the league in receiving yards per game this year.

His cost will only be higher as one of the most sought after free agents available in March.

There’s been a thought the Bengals would let Higgins walk in free agency after the franchise tag, but the tone changed after Burrow spoke up following a win on “Monday Night Football” against the Dallas Cowboys.

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“I am confident we are going to be able to do what it takes to bring Tee back — that I’m going to do what it takes to get him back and so is he,” Burrow said on December 9th. “We’ve had those talks. Those are going to be offseason discussions, but I think we are excited about that opportunity.”

A week later, it came out that Higgins changed his representation from David Mulugheta, Bates’ former agent who the Bengals struggled to get deals done with and moved to Chase’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux.

Burrow is facing the possibility this week that it could be his last game together with Higgins and Chase. He voiced his expectations in that regard.

“It’s obviously a possibility — not one that I’m excited about,” Burrow said, “but that’s not in the plans, I would say.”

When asked if he’s still as confident the team can keep all three as he was after the Dallas game, Burrow said, “I think so.”

[I_C_Deadpeople]

When you think of sports franchises over the longer term, each have , at various times, inflection points. Be it regarding certain players, transactions, moving or owners. 

 

To me, given that we have JB and his recent comments, this team is at a critical inflection point. Do they actually move forward with the type of contrcat types they need to in order to keep thier best players or do they stay at the back end of the curve and risk wasting Joe's talent?

 

They really do need to 'sh*t or get off the pot' as the saying goes. To take advantage of the JB years, IMO, they NEED to sign Chase, Tee and Trey. I know that will tie up cap space but you have to sign your best players plain and simple. It is already going to cost more to re-sign each of those guys and that means some others wo0nt get signed (like perhaps Gieseki) but so be it. Play younger guys around the new core and few more core guys will then emerge. 

 

Joe has thrown down the gauntlet, the team needs to make the next move. I have noted previously that if I was rtunning this team, I would be re-signing these key guys with MORE guaranteed money and perhaps a bit less overall cap money. Leverage the guarantees becuse if you offer lower guarantees (like they did with Chase this off season) you simply wont sign these guys becsue someone else will offer BOTH high guarantees and high salary. 

[claptonrocks]

1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

When you think of sports franchises over the longer term, each have , at various times, inflection points. Be it regarding certain players, transactions, moving or owners. 

 

To me, given that we have JB and his recent comments, this team is at a critical inflection point. Do they actually move forward with the type of contrcat types they need to in order to keep thier best players or do they stay at the back end of the curve and risk wasting Joe's talent?

 

They really do need to 'sh*t or get off the pot' as the saying goes. To take advantage of the JB years, IMO, they NEED to sign Chase, Tee and Trey. I know that will tie up cap space but you have to sign your best players plain and simple. It is already going to cost more to re-sign each of those guys and that means some others wo0nt get signed (like perhaps Gieseki) but so be it. Play younger guys around the new core and few more core guys will then emerge. 

 

Joe has thrown down the gauntlet, the team needs to make the next move. I have noted previously that if I was rtunning this team, I would be re-signing these key guys with MORE guaranteed money and perhaps a bit less overall cap money. Leverage the guarantees becuse if you offer lower guarantees (like they did with Chase this off season) you simply wont sign these guys becsue someone else will offer BOTH high guarantees and high salary. 

Good stuff I.C.

If they don't re-sign Tee,their offense will suffer next year.

No question.

Pay the man..he's worth it 

 

[sparky151]

1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

When you think of sports franchises over the longer term, each have , at various times, inflection points. Be it regarding certain players, transactions, moving or owners. 

 

To me, given that we have JB and his recent comments, this team is at a critical inflection point. Do they actually move forward with the type of contrcat types they need to in order to keep thier best players or do they stay at the back end of the curve and risk wasting Joe's talent?

 

They really do need to 'sh*t or get off the pot' as the saying goes. To take advantage of the JB years, IMO, they NEED to sign Chase, Tee and Trey. I know that will tie up cap space but you have to sign your best players plain and simple. It is already going to cost more to re-sign each of those guys and that means some others wo0nt get signed (like perhaps Gieseki) but so be it. Play younger guys around the new core and few more core guys will then emerge. 

 

Joe has thrown down the gauntlet, the team needs to make the next move. I have noted previously that if I was rtunning this team, I would be re-signing these key guys with MORE guaranteed money and perhaps a bit less overall cap money. Leverage the guarantees becuse if you offer lower guarantees (like they did with Chase this off season) you simply wont sign these guys becsue someone else will offer BOTH high guarantees and high salary. 

 

I agree with this. The flip side of not being proactive in extending the good players is they are laggards when it comes to cutting deadwood. They spin it as "loyalty" or some such but if extending Tee means Rankins or Hubbard have to be replaced by rookies or inexpensive vets, so be it. 

[-GoBengals-]

On 1/1/2025 at 11:42 AM, claptonrocks said:

Good stuff I.C.

If they don't re-sign Tee,their offense will suffer next year.

No question.

Pay the man..he's worth it 

 

 

 

devils advocate... the offense can afford to suffer, being essentially a top 5 scoring offense. would you skip signing tee if we could bring back jesse bates and add a veteran corner for the same money?

 

PS: i think we do and should bring back Tee..  but you dont need a top 5 offense if you can have a top 15 defense and a top 10 offense.

[claptonrocks]

34 minutes ago, GoBengals said:

 

 

devils advocate... the offense can afford to suffer, being essentially a top 5 scoring offense. would you skip signing tee if we could bring back jesse bates and add a veteran corner for the same money?

 

PS: i think we do and should bring back Tee..  but you dont need a top 5 offense if you can have a top 15 defense and a top 10 offense.

I would keep Tee.

This is a dynamic trio who feed off each other to excell.

If I had to cut players that haven't had the value of their contracts do it.

 

 

 

 

[-GoBengals-]

48 minutes ago, claptonrocks said:

I would keep Tee.

This is a dynamic trio who feed off each other to excell.

If I had to cut players that haven't had the value of their contracts do it.

 

 

 

 

 

but you have to replace those players too, so how does that help?

[claptonrocks]

2 hours ago, GoBengals said:

 

but you have to replace those players too, so how does that help?

Replace Rankins..he's done nothing... Jenkins takes his spot.

Replace Cappa..he's totally inept now...

Replace Hubbard...Ossai and Sample fill it.

Replace Vonn Bell.....Jordan Battle up next

 

Cutting players or signing their own FAs to  lighter contracts will

have them in position to keep Tee and BJ Hill and a couple other shirt term deal.

[LostInDaJungle]

"But if we sign Tee now, how will we pay Amarius Mims in 5 years? Have any of you even considered the 2042 cap implications of such an insane notion? None of you understand how hard of a job this is." ~Katie Blackburn, Probably

[T-Dub]

19 hours ago, GoBengals said:

 

 

devils advocate... the offense can afford to suffer, being essentially a top 5 scoring offense. would you skip signing tee if we could bring back jesse bates and add a veteran corner for the same money?

 

PS: i think we do and should bring back Tee..  but you dont need a top 5 offense if you can have a top 15 defense and a top 10 offense.

 

 

Sure, or an above average DT & either of those 2 mentioned.  Or any of those and a difference-maker at guard/center.  Or a consistent pass rusher, or an all-around TE.

 

They have the money and the draft picks to address most of those things in one off-season, and extend Higgins, Chase, Hendrickson.  It would put them right against the cap, maybe require backloading some contracts in a way that might make for some lean years down the road, but they could do it.

 

Are they willing to bet it all?

 

 

[LostInDaJungle]

51 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

 

Sure, or an above average DT & either of those 2 mentioned.  Or any of those and a difference-maker at guard/center.  Or a consistent pass rusher, or an all-around TE.

 

They have the money and the draft picks to address most of those things in one off-season, and extend Higgins, Chase, Hendrickson.  It would put them right against the cap, maybe require backloading some contracts in a way that might make for some lean years down the road, but they could do it.

 

Are they willing to bet it all?

 

 

A nuance to the "cheap" narrative...

The Bengals are always willing to front load contracts. Always willing to sign contracts they KNOW they will see to the end. They don't mind a big signing bonus... They mind a dead year or two.

What they are VERY unwilling to do is to show long term faith in positions outside of QB.

A much bigger question... Are they willing to bet on Jamarr Chase and Tee Higgins being great players for another 5-6 years?

See... they have the space to keep this group together with Tee on the 2nd tag, Chase on his 5th year option, and 2ish mid level FA's to round out the D.

Or, they could do deals for both guys, and have plenty of cap space to play with. Sign any players of note we might lose, and still be able to add on defense.

Or, they could do a modern NFL deal, like the one Jefferson got, and have a TON of cap space. Sign a Top CB and Top pass rusher.

Does the Modern deal blow up the cap in a few years and require some finagling?? Hell yes it does. But no other GM in the NFL on a two year contract has the luxury of worrying about that. And if the history of the NFL shows us anything, the "Cap Hell" years aren't so bad. Isn't Buffalo carrying like $70M in dead money this year?? They must really be suffering, hunh...

Tee has even signaled that he WANTS to be here. He's willing to take the deal that makes it work. I mean... Damn.

If you're worried about the cap hits in three years... Well, you know you're going to have to rely on your draft picks more and Scouting departments don't count against the cap.

Is Katie ever going to graduate to being a Modern NFL GM? She wants us to respect what she does. But honestly... With $65M in cap space... How do we say she's a good GM if she can't keep the band together? Aren't we already looking at a strong chance of this being a lost season that directly tracks back to the GM's off-season shenanigans and bad moves? Now we're looking to give her a pass on keeping a top player that wants to be here?

If I have any venom for Katie, it stems from my deep disappointment. I kinda like Katie. As someone who also irons his underwear, I saw in her a kindred spirit many years ago. But she has proved to be as unimaginative and dull as her old man ever was.

The Bengals will have $70M in cap space next year after the expected cut of Rankins. Chase is $22M of that for the 5th year option. Tee could be tagged again for $26m. $44M in cap space even in that scenario. Enough to sign Geisecki, Hilton, Hill - or their replacements and another starter on D.

Jefferson was an $8M cap hit this year. That's what a Modern NFL Deal looks like.

PLENTY of room to sign Tee. How much is left over for other wants depends on how good our GM is.

[sparky151]

4 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

 

Sure, or an above average DT & either of those 2 mentioned.  Or any of those and a difference-maker at guard/center.  Or a consistent pass rusher, or an all-around TE.

 

They have the money and the draft picks to address most of those things in one off-season, and extend Higgins, Chase, Hendrickson.  It would put them right against the cap, maybe require backloading some contracts in a way that might make for some lean years down the road, but they could do it.

 

Are they willing to bet it all?

 

 

 

They are never willing to bet big on a single season, ie go "all in". They also frontload contracts instead of backloading them which is stupid. Backloading gives the team more options if the player flops and keeps the player incentivized to earn every penny of his deal. 

 

Even with even cap hits across each season, the team could extend Chase, Tee, and Trey. Then re-sign guys like Gesicki, Ford, and Sample. Then add some impact free agents like Trey Smith and Haason Reddick. If they are willing to cut some underachievers. It will undoubtedly turn out that the Bengals could have afforded top free agents but couldn't interest them in playing here. We could have afforded Danielle Hunter or Christian Wilkins last year but were never close to signing either. 

[LostInDaJungle]

16 hours ago, sparky151 said:

It will undoubtedly turn out that the Bengals could have afforded top free agents but couldn't interest them in playing here. We could have afforded Danielle Hunter or Christian Wilkins last year but were never close to signing either. 

Meanwhile, the most desired FA of the upcoming class wants to be here, has signaled he's willing to take a small discount to make it happen... And some posters are already rolling out the wagon of excuses for Katie and krew.

[T-Dub]

Seems like they could extend Hendrickson for a year or two, make his raise a signing bonus or even convert some salary to bonus, and free up some space in the short term? 

 

IDK, I'm no Duke Tobin.

[I_C_Deadpeople]

They should have added a few years and guarantees to Trey last offseason (as they should have with Chase) because the price has now gone up. 
Trey is a $30M per year guy now, might play for less if his money is guaranteed. 
 

Not signing all of Tee, Chase and Trey will set us back next year. Has to be done. Compared to these 3 I don’t really care about the likes of Hilton and Gieseki, we can lose them but not any of the big three. 
 

That seems obvious to me. Joe would like Gieseki back but get Tee instead and use the other TE’s more. 

[|SF2|]

25 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

They should have added a few years and guarantees to Trey last offseason (as they should have with Chase) because the price has now gone up. 
Trey is a $30M per year guy now, might play for less if his money is guaranteed. 
 

Not signing all of Tee, Chase and Trey will set us back next year. Has to be done. Compared to these 3 I don’t really care about the likes of Hilton and Gieseki, we can lose them but not any of the big three. 
 

That seems obvious to me. Joe would like Gieseki back but get Tee instead and use the other TE’s more. 

Well, we had Tee, Chase and Trey ALL of this year and we probably don't make the playoffs unless something magical happens in Denver.   Basically spending more money to keep the status quo.  The best teams in the league don't tie up that kind of money with 4 players.  Just can't do it. 

[I_C_Deadpeople]

7 minutes ago, SF2 said:

Well, we had Tee, Chase and Trey ALL of this year and we probably don't make the playoffs unless something magical happens in Denver.   Basically spending more money to keep the status quo.  The best teams in the league don't tie up that kind of money with 4 players.  Just can't do it. 

But we are worse off without any of them. Don’t blame these 4 for the rest of the poor roster. Draft better and fill in the gaps. The cap is rising significantly in the next few years so these contracts will end up being a lower per percentage of the total then they are today. This is another fail of the front office - not using that fact to their advantage. 
 

What teams in the league are not paying their best players top dollar? Ignoring rookie contracts. 

[|SF2|]

21 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

But we are worse off without any of them. Don’t blame these 4 for the rest of the poor roster. Draft better and fill in the gaps. The cap is rising significantly in the next few years so these contracts will end up being a lower per percentage of the total then they are today. This is another fail of the front office - not using that fact to their advantage. 
 

What teams in the league are not paying their best players top dollar? Ignoring rookie contracts. 

Well, its one thing to pay certain positions top dollar.  We can't afford to pay top dollar for a #1 AND a #2 receiver unless our QB is on a rookie salary or discounted like Sam Darnold OR we go cheap other places.   20% of the cap space can not go to the WR position.  

 

 

[I_C_Deadpeople]

2 hours ago, SF2 said:

Well, its one thing to pay certain positions top dollar.  We can't afford to pay top dollar for a #1 AND a #2 receiver unless our QB is on a rookie salary or discounted like Sam Darnold OR we go cheap other places.   20% of the cap space can not go to the WR position.  

 

 

I don't disagree under normal circumstances but who else on the team should be well paid other than those on rookie deals or already under longer term contracts? If we had a CB and a S that were all pro I would say yeah, we have to pay one of those instead. But we dont really have anyone, we really have 5 elite veterans. Thats it. We cant let any one them go. And in 3-4 years the cap will be $320M or so. Then Burrow is worth $70M, etc etc. 

If we sign Chase, Tee and Trey, then we literally need to load up the OL in the draft - even if we did not sign Tee this team will not pay top FA dollars for a IOL. Might as well pay the stars we have.

[|High School Harry|]

Is Joe saying anything about renegotiating or modifying his contract to make it more

cap friendly to help get both Ja'Marr and Tee signed?

Maybe he has or will.  I dunno.  I've not seen it.

[Griever]

2 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

Is Joe saying anything about renegotiating or modifying his contract to make it more

cap friendly to help get both Ja'Marr and Tee signed?

Maybe he has or will.  I dunno.  I've not seen it.

I don't think he's explicitly said anything about the restructuring of his contract, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wouldn't do it...

[dex]

5 minutes ago, Griever said:

I don't think he's explicitly said anything about the restructuring of his contract, but that doesn't necessarily mean he wouldn't do it...

I'm sure Burrow would want to do it, but the Bengals have never restructured a player's contract in order to gain more cap space. As far as I can tell, they are the only NFL team that has never done it. Usually contract restructures be benefit the player more than the team on a purely financial scale. Cincinnati has never wanted the extra cap space. It's just more money they would then be expected to spend. 

 

NFL players generally agree to restructure their contracts because it's beneficial to them in a number of ways:

• Immediate cash

  The player receives a signing bonus upfront, which is a cash advance that can't be taken away. 

   
• Reduces yearly cap hits

  The player's yearly cap hits are reduced by spreading out the money that's already allotted to them. 

   

A contract restructure is when an NFL team converts a portion of a player's base salary or roster bonus into a signing bonus. This creates immediate cap space for the team, which can then be used to sign other players or make trades.

[sparky151]

22 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Seems like they could extend Hendrickson for a year or two, make his raise a signing bonus or even convert some salary to bonus, and free up some space in the short term? 

 

IDK, I'm no Duke Tobin.

 

Yes, they could do that. It amounts to borrowing cap space for the present from the future and most teams do that. The Bengals don't, then wonder why they have never won a Super Bowl despite having NFL MVPs like Anderson and Esiason and a great QB in Burrow.

 

The punchline is that even without a lot of backloading, the Bengals have so much cap space for 2025 that they can do extensions for Chase and Hendrickson, re-sign Higgins and Gesicki, and still bring in some impact free agents from other teams.

[sparky151]

7 hours ago, SF2 said:

Well, its one thing to pay certain positions top dollar.  We can't afford to pay top dollar for a #1 AND a #2 receiver unless our QB is on a rookie salary or discounted like Sam Darnold OR we go cheap other places.   20% of the cap space can not go to the WR position.  

 

 

 

If the team gives Chase and Higgins new contracts that average a combined 60 mil per year, the team can afford it without too much trouble. I think Chase would take 36 mil per year on this new deal (1 mil more than Jefferson and making him the highest paid non-QB in the league). I think Tee would take 24 mil per year. Currently Chase is on the 2025 cap at 22 mil and if we re-tag Tee he would cost 26, for a combined 48 mil. Cut Rankins and you're at the 60 threshold without losing much. 

 

The 2 good WRs are the team's competitive advantage. I'd like to see a stronger running game with IOL upgrades but the defense is the main issue. If the new DC's scheme can generate more pass rush, we'll be ok there.

 

4 hours ago, High School Harry said:

Is Joe saying anything about renegotiating or modifying his contract to make it more

cap friendly to help get both Ja'Marr and Tee signed?

Maybe he has or will.  I dunno.  I've not seen it.

 

Yes, Joe has said he'd do whatever is needed to keep Ja'Marr and Tee. Not sure if he means an actual pay reduction or just a restructuring. 

[Spotto]

I would use the Tee money to ensure we have two improved Guards next year.

 

Give Joe extra time with the ball, no more "superman scrambles" and he'll be like Tom Brady with lots of time in the pocket; he'll make any WR look good and even allow Jamar to get more sepration.  Look out!!!