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Joe Burrow % Ja’Marr Chase Right In Push To Keep Tee Higgins?

Joe Burrow % Ja’Marr Chase Right In Push To Keep Tee Higgins?

CINCINNATI — Both Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase made it clear they want Tee Higgins in Cincinnati long term.

Burrow said retaining Higgins was a ‘need’ and that he would be ‘very disappointed’ unless they re-signed the 25-year-old to a long-term deal.

It is also worth noting that Higgins has parted ways with his agent David Mulugheta.

That led to a lot of questions. Will they bring Higgins back? Will the Bengals front office listen to Burrow?

Let’s go through each question and answer them objectively.

Is it in the Bengals best interest to bring Higgins back? Does it make sense? Is it the best use of resources in their quest to win their first Super Bowl?

I would give the same answer to all three questions: yes.

Yes, the Bengals are much better with Higgins than without him. There’s a reason teams like the Steelers, Patriots and Jaguars are hoping he hits free agency this offseason. There is a reason why Mulugheta (his former agent) was a tough negotiator and was unhappy with the franchise tag.

He knew there was a real market for Higgins.

So we know Higgins is talented, but does it make sense for a team that has Burrow and Chase to keep Higgins?

The answer is also yes.

He is the fourth best player on the Bengals roster and is only 25 years old. Yes, he’s had some injuries, but he’s played in at least 12 games in his first four seasons and is on pace to do so for the fifth time this year.

Letting a few soft tissue injuries prevent you from keeping your fourth best player seems extreme. DJ Reader missed time with injuries and was older than Higgins. Can’t we all agree that it would have been smart to keep him last offseason?

Letting a star player leave in his prime rarely works. It’s hard to replace these guys.

Think what the Bengals have done at safety since they realized they weren’t going to sign Jessie Bates to a long-term contract.

They drafted Dax Hill in the first round (31st overall) in the 2022 NFL Draft. They followed that up by trading for Tycen Anderson in the fifth round. They signed Nick Scott and selected Jordan Battle in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Then they went out and signed Geno Stone and Vonn Bell in free agency.

They’re still worse at safety than they would have been had they signed Bates to a long-term deal and picked one of Hill, Anderson or Battle or Hill to replace Bell.

The experiment didn’t work.

Everyone is worried about how they will pay Burrow, Chase and Higgins.

The irony is that they can’t afford another experiment at wide receiver. How’s Jermaine Burton doing? If Higgins signs elsewhere, then Burrow has two reliable options at receiver next season: Chase and Andrei Iosivas.

Keeping Higgins isn’t about space or real cash.

The Bengals have plenty of money and cap space. They can free up even more cap space by restructuring Burrow’s contract this offseason. He sounds more than willing to help them.

Can the Bengals still shore up their defense, interior offensive line and any other needs if they re-sign Higgins and Chase?

The answer was always yes.

The Bengals are currently projected to have $62.7 million in cap space to work with in March. That doesn’t include Burrow’s contract restructuring or possible cuts.

Chase is already on the hook for nearly $22 million in cash and cap space since they exercised his fifth-year option last offseason. This number will increase somewhat after an extension, but will not double or triple. There’s no doubt they’ll give him a big signing bonus.

The thing is, they already pay Chase a big salary and they planned it. Keeping Higgins won’t prevent them from adding a veteran guard: They never spend big money at the guard position. The same goes for the tight end.

“But James, what about defense?”

How about this?

The Bengals will still have room to go after the next Trey Hendrickson or DJ Reader in free agency.

They gave Hendrickson a four-year, $60 million contract. Reader got four years, $53 million.

He might not want to swim in Jevon Holland waters — the Miami safety is expected to be one of the best free agents on the market. But if that is the case, it will be less about Higgins and more about their philosophy.

The move from Higgins opens up another major hole for a team that has a lot of needs. If Higgins isn’t on that list on March 15, wide receiver will instantly become the top need and a big talking point heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.

Instead, the Bengals can keep arguably the best free agent on the market and build around a trio of Burrow, Chase and Higgins.

The plan makes sense.

Opponents sure hate the idea of ​​having to game plan for the Bengals’ big three.

Yes, that’s their new nickname. We’ll see if it sticks.

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