THE Cincinnati Bengals have agreed contract extensions with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Chase and Higgins are two of the NFL’s most prominent wide receivers.
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Both players were under team control for the coming season, with Chase on the final year of his rookie deal and Higgins having the franchise tag on him for the second straight year.
Higgins, 26, had asked to be traded during the 2024 free agency period after he was franchise-tagged for the first time.
During training camp, Chase, 25, staged a “hold-in” where he did not compete in any team activities but ended it before the first game of the season.
Doubts over their futures had led to quarterback Joe Burrow begging franchise chiefs to sort out new deals.
At the Pro Bowl Games in January, Burrow told ESPN: “We have several guys like [Chase] who have stepped up for us and deserved to be paid.
“And deserve to be paid what they’re worth.”
And the 28-year-old finally got his wish after Chase and Higgins told Fox Sports they had agreed extensions on Sunday.
Chase has signed a four-year, $161 million deal including $112m guaranteed.
The deal, working out to an annual average of $40.25m, sets a new league record for the highest average annual salary of a non-quarterback.
He is coming off one of the best individual seasons in history for a wide receiver.
Chase is only the fifth player since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to win the receiving triple crown in leading all players in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving touchdowns (17).
Higgins has also signed a four-year deal worth $115m which is guaranteed for the first two years.
His season was hampered by injuries but was still effective on the field, scoring 10th place in receiving yards per game (75.9) while also catching 10 touchdowns in 12 games.
Speaking at the league’s scouting combine in February, Bengals director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, said: “We’re paying guys for what they’re going to give us.
“We’re not just paying guys for what they’ve already done.”
Coach Zac Taylor noted he had a “great relationship” with Higgins before saying of Chase: “Ja’Marr does a great job of not just spewing answers that he doesn’t think through because he wants the ball.
“There’s been times he said, ‘Hey, man, everything else we’re doing is working, and I’m just going to keep doing my thing over here, even though I haven’t gotten a lot of touches.’
“But it’s our job to put him in a position to get touches early in every single game.”
Cincinnati failed to make the play-offs last season but, with two of the NFL‘s best wide receivers now tied down to new deals, they can get back to working towards becoming a title-challenging franchise again.
