Could the Cincinnati Bengals benefit from a regression on the contracts of star wide receivers?
It’s one of those less likely things to consider as the team grapples with franchise-tagged star Tee Higgins ahead of Ja’Marr Chase’s inevitable, market-resetting extension.
The idea of supply and demand adjusting things in a different direction is something NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks recently commented on with a notable scenario:
I think this is a realistic possibility with the WR market moving into the $30M range. There are so many young WRs in the college pipeline with “plug-and-play” potential that teams could opt to draft and replace elite veterans with younger, cheaper players.. Teams with A+ QBs, in particular, could lean on young, cheap WRs after the QB1 gets big money (SEE: KC Chiefs)
One could argue the Bengals have already started to do this. They drafted Andrei Iosivas last year, a blatant possible Higgins replacement.
And this year they added Jermaine Burton, who arguably should have gone off the board much higher than the third round were it not for some concerns. There’s always a chance the team develops him into a capable No. 2 option.
Still, it’s unlikely that things worsen for the wideout market enough for the Bengals to pull off an upset and keep Higgins alongside Chase — especially when he shares the same agent as Jessie Bates, whose departure followed this very same trajectory.
Even so, the Bengals won’t complain if the market begins to settle while already understanding that Chase will reset the whole thing regardless.
I think this is a realistic possibility with the WR market moving into the $30M range. There are so many young WRs in the college pipeline with “plug-and-play” potential that teams could opt to draft and replace elite veterans with younger, cheaper players.. Teams with A+ QBs, in… https://t.co/MbnmnXwu0e
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) May 28, 2024
