Over the majority of the offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals’ greatest concern was the status of contract negotiations with their two most potent offensive weapons. It was well accepted that after the team gave quarterback Joe Burrow a massive raise with his five-year contract extension worth $275 million, the team has become far more combative regarding player management. While a conservative approach to the organization’s salary structure may help extend the Super Bowl window for this team, it certainly won’t endear the front office to the players.
Cincinnati Bengals Insults All-Pro Receiver During 2024 Offseason
Undoubtedly, the biggest story of the preseason for Cincinnati has been the contract negotiations with former All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Some believed an extension would be difficult after it was reported that Chase’s demands clocked in at approximately $40 million per year (a four-year contract worth $160 million). Regardless, there was a certain optimism amongst both the front office and Chase that a deal would be completed prior to the start of the regular season.
After that, the best number that the team provided for Chase was a four-year contract worth $140 million but there was still a wide gap between the team and the talented LSU product. It has been reported that even though the team was offering approximately $90 million in guaranteed money, the contract was spelled out in a way where the team could avoid payment in several circumstances including catastrophic injury and release. While that may appear to be a better deal for the organization, it certainly doesn’t come off as acceptable to a player who is clearly worried about his long-term future.
Ja’Marr Chase has no plans to negotiate a long-term deal this season with the Cincinnati Bengals, per sources.https://t.co/yTFaEQSVj1
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 15, 2024
There is little doubt that Chase is in terrific shape at this point in his career but the superstar definitely has the worry of a catastrophic injury derailing his career. It appears that that worry is so bad that upon the realization that an extension wasn’t going to happen this offseason, Chase took out an insurance policy on himself worth approximately $50 million if a traumatic injury were to occur. That means that while Chase is looking for the highest salaried contract in the history of the NFL for a non-quarterback, he is more focused on securing a sizeable amount of money in the event his career is cut short.
Higgins Contract Negotiations Followed Similar Template
At the beginning of the offseason, the organization followed a similar template for wide receiver Tee Higgins. Higgins requested a contract extension worth approximately $24 million per year but the team essentially dragged out the negotiations until the Clemson product’s frustration derailed talks between the parties. Higgins would go on to make social media posts highlighting his displeasure with the organization, even portraying himself as a prisoner on the roster at one point in the offseason.
Pattern of Disrespect Apparent in the Front Office
While it is ignored at the public level, these two separate negotiations derailing in a similar way show a trend from the front office of the Bengals. The Brown Family clearly doesn’t want to retain some of its star players to a long-term contract but rather than maturely say that and attempt to work out a trade or some move that works in the best interest of the player and the team, they would rather force the player to become the villain to the fanbase.
At this point, only one player in the past twenty years has managed to secure an extension during the regular season in Cincinnati and that was left tackle Andrew Whitworth securing a one-year extension in 2015. Past that, there is a trend of star players being vilified by the front office as greedy even though the problem is focused on the team not wanting to guarantee any money to the players in the event of injury.
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Only in extremely rare circumstances (like Carson Palmer in 2010) is a disgruntled player granted a trade from the organization that provided the organization with valuable draft capital. While many analysts believed Higgins to be worth at least one first-round pick at one point, the social media antics and obvious inability to come to an agreement has ruined his trade value to the point that the team will probably be better off receiving a conditional draft pick at the end of the season.
While Cincinnati appears to be attempting to negotiate contracts with its best players, all they are actually doing is alienating them until players like Chase announce that they have no interest in an extension altogether. There is still an additional offseason for the team to bring Chase back to the table but if the team continues this strategy, it may not be a viable option down the road.
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