Cincinnati Bengals fans are in a frustratingly familiar situation — sweating on the futures of their star players.
Quarterback Joe Burrow was tied down on a five-year contract worth $275 million in 2023.
But there is a real question mark over who he will end up throwing the ball to next season with formidable duo Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins expecting new deals.
Both wanted extensions in 2024 but the Bengals front office and billionaire owner Mike Brown decided to kick the can down the road.
Higgins wound up playing on the franchise tag, while Chase played out the final year of his rookie contract — worth just $5 million — after skipping drills during training camp.
The 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns he piled up showed how much he is worth.
Houston Texans legend JJ Watt highlighted the dangers of the Bengals’ strategy, which is is strikingly similar to Dallas Cowboys boss Jerry Jones‘ preferred stance.
“Reward your players earlier and reap the benefits in the long run,” Watt wrote on X. “Dragging it out not only ends up costing more, it creates unnecessary tension. The longer you wait, the higher the price.”
Watt was citing a post from NFL reporter Brett Kollman which laid out how much the Bengals and Cowboys could now be out of pocket.
“Not to harp on the Bengals and Cowboys (again) but the Myles Garrett deal really hammers home why their approaches of dragging stuff out is the worst way to do things,” he said after Garrett signed a record $160 million deal to become the best-paid non-QB ever.
“Two years ago they could have signed or traded Tee for 22M a year. A year ago they could have done Chase for 35M a year. The Cowboys also could have done Micah (Parsons) for 35.
“Now 12 months later both Micah and Chase will want 40, and Tee will want 33-35. And all that for what? So owners can play hard ball?”
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The Bengals have made a rod for their own back.
“He is going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-quarterback in the league,” admitted director of player personnel Duke Tobin of Chase.
That figure keeps rising and the Bengals will likely have to shell out $20 million more every year to keep their offense together.
When he made the claim, Justin Jefferson‘s $35 million annual pay was the mark.
Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby then got $35.5 million in March and Garrett took it up to $40 million.
The Bengals and Chase agreed a salary in 2024 but the structure of the deal wasn’t good enough for the wideout.
It is going to be an expensive failure and with Parsons and Pittsburgh Steelers pass-rusher TJ Watt — JJ’s superstar brother — up for extensions, any further delays could see the figure shoot up more.
After leading the league in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, Chase may well wait and see how far he can drive up his asking price.
Higgins, meanwhile, is furious after being franchise tagged for a second straight year. He is slated to earn $26.1 million if the sides can’t reach an agreement on a long-term extension.
The NFL‘s sack leader Trey Hendrickson looks set to be traded out of Cincinnati despite wanting to stay after failing to receive a contract offer that he — and many others — felt he deserved. Former running back Joe Mixon ended up with the Texans for similar reasons.
Fans now face another anxious wait over Chase and Higgins.
And they have taken to social media to vent their frustrations.
“Worst front office in NFL history,” posted one on X.
“They knew how good these guys were very early on in their careers. They should have signed them for long term deals then. It would have been a steal,” added another.
“Burrow should leave at his first opportunity,” wrote a third.
As good as he is, Burrow can’t catch his own passes.
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