The Bengals went into last offseason facing questions about whether they would be able to keep wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on the team for years to come.
Higgins played out the year on the franchise tag and Chase did not sign an extension, so they are heading into this offseason facing the same questions. Director of player personnel Duke Tobin said from the Senior Bowl Wednesday that “it’s going to be hard” to find agreements “that make sense for everybody.”
Tobin said on Wednesday that getting Chase’s deal done is a priority and he also discussed defensive end Trey Hendrickson earning a pay raise, which may leave Higgins as the odd man out.
“I’ve always been very upfront in my desire to have Tee Higgins on our team,” Tobin said. “I’ve never not been upfront about that, and that desire continues, but we have to be able to come together with his representation on what that means and what the right number is for his experience, for his play time, for his production. . . . Let’s find something that works for everybody, because he is a guy that we want to have here, and hopefully that can come together, but we have other guys who are trying to take big bites of the apple in other areas, and we’re going to have to balance those as we go forward.”
Higgins missed five games with injuries in 2024 and finished the year with 73 catches for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns.
