Ben Baby
Cincinnati – Jammer Chase was still trying to grasp the lightness of the moment.
Until three weeks ago, the idea that he and fellow Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins would sign a long-term expansion felt distant. Each star player has experienced a set of negotiations that he himself had difficult and struggling with.
But things slowly began to change their paths. Quarterback Joe Burrow continued his campaign to help them receive new deals. The front office has expressed support for paying both players.
It set the scene on Tuesday. Chase and Higgins arrived in Cincinnati and completed their new four-year contract. Chase’s $161 million contract will run through 2029, with Higgins worth $115 million in 2028, with the highest average annual salary in league history.
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“Sign us and that’s the overall goal,” Chase said Tuesday at Paycoal Stadium. “Push each other as much as you can to push this team. One goal is to be the best in the AFC first. It gives you a shot to reach the Super Bowl.
It’s fitting that Chase and Higgins appeared at a joint press conference and performed together over the past four seasons. The Bengals drafted Higgins in the second round of 2020, with Chase being the fifth pick in 2021.
Both were part of the franchise’s turnaround, which helped lead Bengal to back-to-back AFC championship games, leading to a Super Bowl appearance in February 2022, when Cincinnati lost to the Los Angeles Rams. Chase is a four-time Pro Bowl selection that won the All-Pro team in 2024, with Higgins earning 4,595 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns in five seasons.
Given the markets of both wide receivers and pay cap constraints, it seems unlikely that Bengal can afford to keep both.
However, following his victory against the Dallas Cowboys in December, Higgins, Chase and Barrow were captains of the pre-match coin toss – Barrow expressed confidence that the team could regain both receivers.
Burrow, an MVP finalist in 2024 and tied to the second-highest average annual salary among league quarterbacks, continued his Chase and Higgins stumps during the Super Bowl Week media tour in February.
Both Higgins and Chase cited Barrow’s support as an important factor that led to their new deal.
TeamWr Duoapybengalsja’marr Chase & Tee Higgins $69MDOLPHINSTYREEK HILL & JAYLEN WADDLE $58.3MEAGLESA.J. Brown & Devonta Smith $57M*Current NFL Contract – ESPN Research
“A guy like him wants guys like us to play with him for the next four years, and I feel that will definitely help,” Higgins said Tuesday.
Another important development came towards the end of last season when Higgins hired Rocky Arkenaw and Caitlyn Aoki as his agents. It also represents a chase.
However, the synergy did not imply a completely smooth process. On February 26th, the Bengals placed the franchise tag on Higgins for the second year in a row.
There was also the question of how much money Chase wanted in his new deal. Initial negotiations between him and the Bengali have led him to skip all training camps in 2024.
Chase said “a lot is going on” surrounding his potential new pay in the weeks leading up to his new deal. But on March 14, when Miles Garrett’s contract with the Cleveland Browns exceeded the $40 million annual threshold, Chase was easier to sign his own deal four days later.
Throughout the process, Chase wanted to make sure there were also significant advances in the deal between Higgins and Bengal.
“I wasn’t really trying to let the tee go for me,” Chase said. “I don’t know about Joe (Barrow), but it’s difficult when you’re there and Tee isn’t there. You know what I’m saying, it’s not easy at all.”
They don’t need to worry about it anymore. Both jumped into Cincinnati on Tuesday to make everything official.
It’s starting to bump into me https://t.co/fctniv3kne
– ja’marrchase (@real10jayy__) March 18, 2025
Bengals coach Zach Taylor, along with his sons Brooks and Luke, sat in the back with his three sons, head strength coach Joey Bose, introducing the two receivers before the press conference.
The Bengals’ director of players, Duke Tobin, called Higgins and Chase “earned the expansion,” and also included a callback to a statement he made at the Scouting Combine in 2023 in connection with the Bengalis who may be dealing with Higgins.
“We have a receiver,” Tobin said in a statement Tuesday. “The rest of the league can find your own.”
