Near the end of the season, serious momentum seemed to suggest the Cincinnati Bengals would be able to keep Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on long-term contracts.
Now, a little pushback to the idea has arrived, courtesy of anonymous NFL executives.
Those sources who spoke to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler are “skeptical” that the Bengals can make it happen because of the roster imbalances it would create.
“They will have close to $70 million a year tied up in receivers, plus the quarterback cost. I think it makes more sense to go the cheap route, especially given the improvements they need to make on defense,” an executive said.
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What’s interesting is that these opinions are correct — throwing so much cash into the wideout depth chart would naturally come at a cost to other areas on the roster.
Still, there are ways around the problem. For one, big misses on Jermaine Burton and the erratic play of high picks like Cam Taylor-Britt mean there aren’t many others worth paying, anyway. The hope is that new defensive coordinator Al Golden can develop the young talent on defense, avoiding needing to pay up huge cash to fix the unit.
There are examples of other contenders making it work. We can reach far into the past and look at some of those Peyton Manning teams in Indianapolis or look to the present with Philadelphia.
It helps that Higgins changed to a team-friendlier agent and a recent report said Joe Burrow, Higgins and Chase have been plotting ways to stay together, too.
Until something happens, though, logical skepticism like this will keep making the rounds. It’s firmly on the Bengals front office to figure out how to navigate the tricky waters and they have roughly a month left on the timer.
