Bengals strike new deals with Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins
Another quiet NFL Sunday night has suddenly gotten loud.
The Bengals have finalized new deals for receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The news was delivered "exclusively" (or, more accurately, preliminary) to Jordan Schultz of Fox before it was distributed to other reporters. Both receivers have confirmed the development via the handshake emoji on Twitter.
Chase reportedly will get a four-year, $161 million deal. Although this part is (deliberately) vague, it would be a shock if it's a straight four-year deal and not a four-year extension to the final year of his rookie contract, which was due to pay $21.8 million.
That makes the new-money average of $40.25 million an actual value at signing of $32.56 million. (And if it were a straight four-year, $161 million deal, it would have been presented as a three-year extension with a new-money average of $46.4 million.)
For Higgins, it's a four-year, $115 million deal, with an average at signing of $28.75 million. To get that contract, he traded in $26.16 million in fully guaranteed pay for 2025 under the franchise tag and a straight-line shot at the open market in 2026, since the Bengals wouldn't have tagged him a third time.
Higgins reportedly gets the first two years of the deal guaranteed; presumably, those years are fully guaranteed. Otherwise, it would have made no sense for him to give up the $26.16 million fully-guaranteed bird in hand.
We'll get the full contracts and break them down as soon as they're available. The bottom line is that two of the team's key players are under contract for the foreseeable future — Chase for five years, and Higgins for four.
And the Bengals won't have to worry, at least in the short term, about franchise quarterback Joe Burrow being upset with the failure to break the piggy bank for players who deserve to be paid commensurately with their skills.
Topics
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Bengals closing in on 'massive contract extensions' with Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase
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Bengals extend Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins for four years apiece
The Bengals are keeping both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins with each getting rich four-year extensionsYahoo Sports - 5h -
Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins reportedly both agree to contract extensions with Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals have reached contract extensions with both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, according to multiple reports.Yahoo Sports - 6h -
Reactions: Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins contract extensions done
The Bengals are keeping their talented offensive trio of quarterback Joe Burrow and receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins intact.Yahoo Sports - 6h -
Chase, Higgins reach extensions with Bengals. AP source says Chase will be NFL's highest-paid non-QB
The Cincinnati Bengals have agreed to four-year extensions with receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, assuring that Joe Burrow will have his top two targets with him for some time. A person ...Yahoo Sports - 5h -
Bengals reach extensions with Chase, Higgins
The Bengals have secured two of the NFL's most prominent wide receivers, with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins telling Fox Sports that they have agreed to contract extensions.ESPN - 6h -
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Chase, Higgins reach extensions with Bengals. Chase will be NFL’s highest-paid non-QB, AP source says
The Cincinnati Bengals have agreed to four-year extensions with receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, assuring that Joe Burrow will have his top two targets with him for some time.NBC News - 4h
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