The Cincinnati Bengals signed their two big offensive weapons—wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins—this week, much to the delight of quarterback Joe Burrow.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer has all the numbers on both of those deals:
Ja’Marr Chase’s four-year, $161 million extension has …
• $73.9 million fully guaranteed at signing—$41.17 million in base salary, a roster bonus, and per-game roster bonuses for 2025; and $32.73 million in base salary and a roster bonus for 2026. His two-year total is $75 million, with another $1.1 million in per-game roster bonuses for 2026 not fully guaranteed until next March.
• In March 2026, those roster bonuses, plus $28.9 million of his money for 2027 becomes fully guaranteed. His three-year total is $105 million, with $1.1 million of his $30 million for 2027 not fully guaranteed until March 2027.
• In March 2027, those roster bonuses, plus $7 million for 2028 become fully guaranteed, bringing the guarantee total, at that point, to $112 million.
• Realistically, this ties the Bengals to Chase for the next three years, with the $7 million in 2028 subject to offsets.
• Chase is also due a non-guaranteed $44.816 million in 2029, the final year of the deal.
Tee Higgins’s four-year, $115 million deal has …
• $30 million fully guaranteed at signing—A $20 million roster bonus this March, and a $10 million roster bonus next March. Interestingly, his $13.8 million base for this year is not yet guaranteed.
• The practical guarantee here is the $45.9 million (if he plays in all 17 games this year), with $35.9 million due in 2025, and the $10 million roster bonus for next year subject to offsets (which means the Bengals could get out of the deal after a year with just what they paid in 2025, if someone paid him more than $10 million next). That said, the Bengals don’t have history of cutting guys after a year.
• $10.9 million of Higgins 2026 base becomes fully guaranteed next March, which adds to the already fully-guaranteed roster bonus that’s paid then.
• Higgins has $2 million in per-game roster bonuses in each year of the deal, giving the team considerable protection against injury.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins Complete Contract Details After Huge New Deals With Bengals.
