That makes Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, while Higgins is now the highest-paid second receiver in league history. FOX Sports reporter Jordan Schultz was first with the terms of the deals.
Cincinnati had made clear its intension of paying Chase, but it wasn’t always certain the Bengals would be able to get something done with both him and Higgins, whom they had used a franchise tag on for a second straight year. Higgins’ injury history had been a concern, but he was always capable of getting top receiver money elsewhere.
For Chase, it was just a matter of when and how. His value went up after his 2024 receivers’ triple-crown campaign and even more when the Browns upped the threshold for “highest paid non-paid quarterback” last week. Cleveland signed star pass rusher Myles Garrett to a four-year extension worth more than $122 million in guaranteed money and an average annual value of $40 million.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
While speaking with local media at the pre-training camp luncheon last July, Bengals owner and president Mike Brown said the organization would “bend over backward” to get a contract extension done for Chase, who at the time still had two seasons left on his rookie deal, thanks to the fifth-year option that was triggered in April 2024.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin re-iterated Chase’s importance last month at the NFL Combine.
“Ja’Marr is always going to be our priority,” Tobin said. “He’s a fantastic football player. He’s gonna ended up being the No.1-paid non-quarterback in the league. We’re there. Let’s get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team. We have other needs that we want to build, so we want to get these kind of things done early enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Higgins, the team’s second-round pick in 2020 after Burrow, played on a franchise tag last year in his fifth season with the Bengals, but missed five games due to soft-tissue injuries and still almost finished with 1,000 yards receiving. He recorded 911 yards – his fourth season with 900 yards or more -- and 10 touchdowns on 73 catches.
Burrow’s push to keep Higgins, despite his injury history, was loud and clear to the organization. The franchise quarterback had called Higgins “a need,” back in December and said he would be disappointed if the Bengals didn’t keep him long-term.
“He’s very important,” Burrow said on Dec. 12. “I think you just look at, it’s not even just his production. It’s his presence, it’s how he comes to work every day, it’s how the defenses have to play us when he’s out there. Tee plays such a big part in what we do here and has for five years now that I don’t think you can quite put a value on that I would say.”
In getting both deals done now, the Bengals have more clarity about their future cap space and costs and also avoid a repeat of last year when Chase “held in” during training camp amid contract negotiations.
The four-time Pro Bowler wanted his extension last year and was a constant headline with his absences from the offseason workout program and practices leading right up to the opener when he said he wasn’t sure if he would play.
Chase ultimately returned to work and played all 17 games, finishing with a league-leading 127 catches for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns. He’s topped 1,000 yards in each of his four professional seasons, and this was his second straight year with 100 catches or more.
“I think it’s just the all-around skillset,” Burrow said in September when Chase’s status was still uncertain going into the season. “He has great hands, way faster than you think he is and everyone thinks he’s really fast. He plays through contact, he’s physical, he’s strong. He’s the complete receiver.”
The 2021 No. 5 overall draft pick has led the team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in each his first four seasons, and he is in the record books in numerous categories. His 127 receptions surpassed T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s franchise record of 112 in 2007, and his 1,708 yards receiving last season surpassed his own team record of 1,455 in 2021. Chase’s 17 receiving touchdowns tied Carl Pickens’ record set in 1995.
Chase was 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year after his receiving yards total that year marked the second most in league history by a rookie at the time. He was awarded the FedEx Ground Player of the Year for 2024 at the NFL Honors ceremony ahead of the Super Bowl.
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