Tee Higgins parted ways with his agent towards the end of his contract year in 2024, raising eyebrows around the NFL.
Those eyebrows went even higher after Higgins signed with the same representation as fellow Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase. Four months later, Higgins and Chase both signed lucrative contracts to stay together with Joe Burrow in Cincinnati for the long-term.
“It was something that came together pretty quickly,” said FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz, who first broke news of the dual extensions. “The plan was always to get both done together.”
The Bengals were unable to reach a long-term agreement with Higgins last offseason, resulting in a franchise tag for the 2024 season. Over the last year, the team was also engaged in negotiations with Chase to make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Once both players were represented by the same agency, it became clear that they were a package deal.
“It wasn’t one or the other,” explained Schultz. That gave the two receivers plenty of leverage to force concessions from Cincinnati, who ultimately obliged with a stronger guarantee structure than their previous non-quarterback contracts.
“The Bengals broke a lot of precedent,” Schultz continued. “It’s not something they’ve ever done other than Joe Burrow.”
Higgins still didn’t receive a WR1 salary, but he was willing to take less money than he would’ve earned on the open market to stay in Cincinnati.
“He wanted to be a Bengal,” said Schultz. “Tee Higgins wanted to run it back with Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow.”
Chase was entering 2025 on his fifth-year option, so his four-year, $161MM extension will keep him in Cincinnati through 2029. The total guaranteed money is $109.8MM, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, with $73.8MM guaranteed at signing. The deal contains a $22MM signing bonus and a $10MM roster bonus, as well as $1MM in per-game roster bonuses and $100k in workout bonuses in each year of the deal that are fully-guaranteed in 2025. Combined with his fully-guaranteed 2025 salary of $8.07MM, Chase’s first-year cash flow can reach $41.17MM. His $17.73MM salary and $15MM option bonus in 2026 are also fully-guaranteed, with void years in 2030 and 2031 to prorate those bonuses.
If Chase is on the roster on the fifth day of the 2026 league year, his per-game and workout bonuses for 2026 and 2027 will become fully-guaranteed, along with his $23.9MM salary and $5MM roster bonus in 2027. If he…