As if we needed another reminder that Joe Burrow has completely altered the trajectory of the Cincinnati Bengals’ franchise, the twin extensions of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins landing late Sunday night serves as another fine example. The Bengals now have the highest-paid nonquarterback in NFL history, alongside the highest-paid wide receiver two in NFL history. This comes not long after having made Burrow the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history.
I’ve seen this written as the Bengals kowtowing to their star quarterback, though I view it as kind of a mutual admiration. Burrow has had every opportunity to push the Bengals away, be it during the predraft process when he could have tried to stage an Eli Manning, when he was slaughtered his rookie season behind a patchwork offensive line, during his own contract negotiations or as the pressing need for Chase and Higgins extensions became more apparent. Instead, there’s been a kind of quiet, forceful dignity to it all, with the franchise responding in kind. Burrow has never made the Bengals feel like a second-class franchise, and so the Bengals, for once, are treating Burrow like a first-class quarterback.
I would guess the franchise hopes that this, paired with finally building an indoor practice facility, will put to rest the narrative of frugality. The Bengals have had a reputation for not spending money, but have spent the second-most money of any team this offseason. They have also, on two other occasions during the Zac Taylor era, been one of the top-spending teams in free agency. The team has continuously tripped over itself in an effort to build something of a sustainable offensive line.
That should be seen as a victory in and of itself, especially in an age when we glamorize the financial slash-and-burn approach. Though, to me, there’s still a kind of fog hanging over Cincinnati's offseason for the mere fact that Chase and Higgins were not the issues with this team to begin with; not the reason that Cincinnati has serially found itself needing to storm back into the playoff picture.
The Bengals finished last season as one of the worst pass-protecting and run-blocking teams in the NFL. Similarly, they finished 20th and 25th, respectively, in an ESPN analytic that quantifies pass-rush wins and run-stop wins. As the run and shoot NFL of the late 2010s and early 2020s continues to die off in favor of teams that are dominating the line of scrimmage, merely changing defensive coordinators and adding Oren Burks and T.J. Slaton—though one of the highest-ranked players in terms of run-stop win rate a year ago—isn’t enough to get this team back in the Super Bowl.
Ironically enough, in getting the signings of Chase and Higgins out of the way and revealing the depth of other needs on the roster, the Bengals have now turned the spotlight away from their financial habits toward another bugaboo: the team’s more compact scouting department, which will have to ultimately save the franchise by producing a font of defensive playmakers and ancillary offensive pieces.
For the uninitiated, Cincinnati has the smallest scouting staff in the NFL. I was personally converted to a believer in its benefits after speaking to its former director during the team’s Super Bowl run back in February 2022. While they cannot be as blanket aggressive as other teams, the smaller staff leads to a more intimate relationship with the coaching staff and, thus, a more defined set of expectations for what the scouts should be looking for. That said, the return on last year’s class in terms of defensive talent was mixed, though third-round pick McKinnley Jackson did come around over the latter weeks of the season and fifth-round corner Josh Newton had two of his best games down the homestretch. The ’23 class, highlighted by the selection of first-rounder Myles Murphy, has also been slow to launch, though Murphy will have a sink or swim moment in ’25 upon the retirement of Sam Hubbard. Even if Trey Hendrickson is re-signed, which has not yet happened, his presence alone has clearly not been enough to buoy the defense. I also say all this while acknowledging that the drafting of Burrow from a QB class with two other appetizing options (at the time), as well as Higgins and Chase during a draft in which there were a lot of other talented receivers, represent the strength and upside of this personnel department.
But … until all of that is taken care of, can we really appreciate the troika of Chase, Higgins and Burrow in all their glory without the backing of a defense that was 27th-best in terms of EPA per play last year, or a running game that was 19th in effectiveness, just ahead of a New York Jets team that simply opted not to run the ball at all a year ago?
The NFL is truly a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately kind of world. And as the Bengals come down from a pivotal moment in franchise history in which they have (hopefully) permanently dispelled the notion that they cannot hang financially, the club now has to reprove its abilities as a franchise that can also scout and develop its way out of NFL purgatory as well.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as You Can No Longer Call the Bengals Cheap, but They Still Have to Build a Roster.
