Florio Gives Bleak Outlook On Both Bengals’ Star Wide Receivers
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Bengals’ frugality has taken center stage once again. On NBC’s Pro Football Talk, Mike Florio wasted no time in criticizing the way Cincinnati’s front office handled Ja’Marr Chase’s contract extension last season.
“The Bengals told Ja’Marr Chase they were going to sign him to an extension. “Don’t worry. We got you taken care of.” And it was time to put the offer on paper and put the paper on the table,” Florio said. “The dollars were at or about, Justin Jefferson money, 35 million per year in new money average. The structure was to use a technical term, “Kaka”, and that was the problem. It gave too much power to the Bengals. It didn’t have enough guarantee. There was, you know, some Fugazi stuff in there. I don’t know all the specifics. All I know is the structure was as bad of a structure as you can see when it comes to a long term deal, so they had acrimony. He held in for much of training camp, all the way up until it was time to put the inactives in for the week one game against the Patriots, an hour and a half before kickoff, we didn’t know whether or not Ja’Marr Chase was going to play in the game, so he went on to have a spectacular season, and now they’ve got to pay him.”
“The argument last year was, if you can just make it through year four with a guy on a first round contract, you’re saving a ton of money, because he will have always played his fourth year for like, 4 million bucks when you replace that contract with a new deal,” Florio said. “There goes that year where we had him for nothing. This year, he’s due to make $21.8 million. So it’s less of a gap between what you’re giving him and what you could have paid him. The Vikings pulled it off with Justin Jefferson, with far less acrimony. The Bengals pulled it off, but they’ve pissed the guy off. Everybody thinks he wants 40. I’ve seen that he wants 40. He wants 40. He wants 40. I’m not so sure he wants 40. I think he wants more. I think he might want… don’t tell anyone. I think he might want 50. Now he may not get it, but if he’s coming to the table, start at 50. It’s gonna be another mess for the thrifty Cincinnati Bengals.”
That mess includes likely making their other star wide receiver the odd man out in terms of receiving a payday.
“They’re not keeping Tee Higgins,” Florio said. “They’ve never kept a guy that they franchise tag more than beyond the one year that he was franchise tagged. That’s it. The only exception was Carl Pickens. They signed him to a new contract under the franchise tag, and they cut him after one year. Every other guy they’ve ever franchise tagged plays one more year and is gone. It’s part of their game: “We’re gonna squeeze one last year out of this guy and then we’re gonna let him go,” because they’d have to give him a hell of a lot more money than he made this year to happen for one more year and then he definitely would be gone. I don’t think he’s gonna be back with the Bengals in 2025.”
While it’s a disappointing revelation for a fan base that has grown accustomed to Chase and Higgins catching dimes from Joe Burrow, it’s nonetheless an unsurprising one for fans who are all too used to their franchise letting star players walk in free agency. With Burrow’s contract extension looming, Chase’s extension becoming more or less mandatory, and Trey Hendrickson’s 2024 season warranting an extension of his own, Higgins may unfortunately be the unfortunate odd man out. Florio used history to showcase the numerous cases of the Bengals not re-signing their players that they’ve franchise tagged, and as of now, it appears that history will repeat itself. There are plausible scenarios where the Bengals can keep their core of star players, it’s ultimately up to the front office. Up to this point, in their nearly 60 years of experience, they haven’t given fans a reason to believe their mindset will change, and the Bengals’ offense will likely look worse in 2025 as a result.
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