Over the past few seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals have developed one of the most explosive and exciting offenses in the NFL. Led by one of the best quarterbacks in the league Joe Burrow, this offense has built a core of talented weapons that makes this unit truly special. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, that comes with a cost: due to the well-designed salary cap system in the NFL, the next few years are going to be a nightmare to figure out the best way to spread money around and retain this talented group of players.
Cincinnati Bengals Receiver Eyes Critical Date Next Week
With the firm grip of the salary cap squeezing this organization tighter by the day, the most pressing concern is the ongoing contract negotiations with its two best offensive skill players. This offseason, both elite deep threat Ja’Marr Chase and superb target man Tee Higgins have been battling the front office to put pen to paper on contract extensions. Unfortunately, as we march into mid-July, it is starting to look like both players will go home without an extension as this notoriously frugal franchise is keeping its cards close to its chest.
While that isn’t a major concern with regards to Chase, who has another two years with Cincinnati on his current contract, Higgins is in a completely different situation after his contract expired this offseason. Cincinnati locked the Clemson product in for the 2024 season using the franchise tag but there is a limited amount of time that this team can work to put together an extension before the franchise tag locks in for the season.
That date is approaching far too quickly. On Monday of next week, Higgins will be locked into his franchise tag (one-year contract) for the upcoming season and will no longer be able to negotiate an extension. That means that Cincinnati will have to battle it out with the rest of the league in the offseason after Higgins becomes a free agent next offseason.
For a popular player and fan favorite, this is certainly not the way that the organization wanted this situation to play out. While Higgins has been a perfect team player, the front office needed to show some foresight and realize that this situation was inevitable with the multitude of talent on the offensive side of the ball. Last offseason, there was a discussion that Higgins may have been able to be traded for a first-round pick or even multiple picks. After a disastrous 2023 season and 2024 offseason, it almost looks certain that Higgins will leave the team with no return next year and no one is to blame but management.
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