NEW ORLEANS — The Cincinnati Bengals face multiple difficult decisions on how to re-sign some of their top players who will in turn demand top money.
Wide receiver Tee Higgins is not currently under contract after a year under the franchise tag (a temporary signing to avoid contract negotiation) and both receiver Ja'Marr Chase and defensive end Trey Hendrickson are eligible for an extension.
Each of those players will demand top salaries at their positions because of their top performance over the past several years. Chase is a nominee for offensive player of the year. Hendrickson is a nominee for defensive player of the year. Higgins is a top talent and arguably could be a number 1 receiver on most other NFL teams.
On top of all of that, Joe Burrow recently signed an extension off his rookie contract, making him (at the time), the highest paid player in the NFL.
While Burrow has been making the media rounds down in New Orleans, the host city of this year's Super Bowl, this topic of how to keep the Bengals high-performing offense together has come up.
Joey B said the team has the space to keep their top players, but when asked on FS1's Breakfast Ball, he said he'd be willing to restructure his own mega-contract to retain his team's top talent, even including tight end Mike Gesicki.
"We all want to play together," Burrow said.
Joe Burrow says he’d "of course" restructure his contract to keep the Bengals' core together, and he has faith in the Bengals' ownership 🙌
— Breakfast Ball (@BrkfstBallOnFS1) February 6, 2025
"I do. We have the cap space to get it done. Trey, Tee, Ja'Marr, and Mike G – we all want to play together." pic.twitter.com/F4YFMSo5pA
Burrow also faced his share of criticism from First Take host Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, who mentioned the Bengals slow starts the last several years.
"We got to figure out a way to get that fixed," Burrow said.
Burrow was also asked about re-signing both Tee and Ja'Marr.
"We have the space, we need to keep both of those guys," Burrow said.
Joe Burrow addresses the Bengals slow starts and the importance of their WRs 💪
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 6, 2025
"We have the space we need to keep both [Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins]." pic.twitter.com/2cSy0YUfts
Burrow doesn't often make the media rounds, but with him being in New Orleans, just down the road from his alma mater at LSU, one might expect he could be in attendance at this year's Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl Sunday at the Caesars Superdome. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.
The most interesting thing to me about Joe Burrow in the media today/this week isn’t exactly what he’s saying. It’s the fact that Burrow is doing as much media as he is. That’s not like him. Messages are being made clear. #Bengals
— Marshall Kramsky (@marshallkramsky) February 6, 2025
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