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Cincinnati Bengals players, coaches and fans could spend the next few days, weeks or even months mourning what could have been during their 2024-25 NFL season.
The front office can't afford to think like that. Coming into the off-season requires a full mental shift towards the future, especially with such a daunting challenge ahead.
As these decision makers look ahead, however, they should remember the good times they had — especially the almost comical levels of passing production produced by the trio of quarterback Joe Burrow and his top two receivers, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase needs to collect a mammoth contract extension sooner rather than later, while Higgins should hit free agency after spending this past campaign on the franchise tag.
Finding the means to retain all three won't be easy, but letting this special collection of elite talent fizzle out would be even worse. And everyone knows it, including these three.
“Sources say the three have discussed playing together again for years to come,” NFL Media's Ian Rapoport registered. “That's their goal, and they didn't hide it privately.”
It will, of course, be a colossal expense to keep them together. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer recently opined that it might take “about $120 million” to keep all three on the roster next season. Burrow already makes 55 million dollars per year, and whenever Chase puts pen to paper on an extension, he could receive the richest salary ever given to a non-quarterback.
If the Bengals extend Chase and re-sign Higgins, arguably the best player at any position in free agency, they won't have much left to cover the holes with the rest of their roster. That's not an excuse to let Higgins walk, however, rather it's the next issue that needs to be addressed in front of the franchise's front office after locking down this extremely talented trio.
Extending Chase and re-signing Higgins shouldn't be negotiable on Cincinnati's offseason checklist. Burrow himself has already said so.
“Whenever a great player leaves, you wish you could have found a way to keep him,” Burrow he told reporters. “You don't want to make a living letting great players leave the building. And I think that's why you have to do everything you can to get those deals done early.”
The Bengals would be wise to take that advice, and not just because their franchise quarterback gave it to them. There's also the very real—and very obvious—fact that the only thing that could make this a special team in the near future is Burrow routinely picking apart defenders while connecting with Chase and Higgins.
Burrow, for those who didn't realize, just led the league in passing yards (4,918) and passing touchdowns (43). Chase did even better, leading the NFL in receptions (127), receptions (1,708) and sacks (17). Higgins wasn't as productive (73 receptions for 911 yards and 10 scores), but his numbers look a lot better when you consider that injuries cost him five contests.
And in the 12 games Higgins has played, the Bengals have looked an awful lot like a member of the NFL's elite. They went 8-4 in those contests and all four losses came against playoff teams—all by one-goal deficits. They also averaged 34 points in those losses, so it's not like the offense failed to deliver against top competition.
Granted, the fact that 34 points per game wasn't enough suggests that there are other areas that need to be addressed on this list. So is the fact that Burrow has been sacked 48 times this season, tied for fourth in the league.
In other words, extending Chase and re-signing Higgins won't cure everything that ails this team. However, letting Higgins walk would not only create a new problem, it would take away one superpower this team has.
Cincinnati's future with Higgins may be tricky, but its future without him is a much bigger task that no one associated with the Bengals should want to fathom.
