Bengals Sign Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins to 4-Year Extensions Worth $161M and $115M

The historic deals have been negotiated over the course of the offseason, and after weeks of speculation about it being a matter not of if, but when, the Bengals stunned the NFL world by announcing the extensions of their top two pass catchers on Saturday night. The immediate fantasy implications are obvious: Joe Burrow is tied to arguably the league’s top wide receiver tandem for the remainder of his contract, while both Chase and Higgins get to stay home in Cincinnati, where they’ll almost assuredly be involved in shootout after shootout given the way the Bengals’ front office has allocated its financial resources. The extension for Chase has been a long time coming – he went as far as threatening a holdout up to the very beginning of the 2024 season – and he becomes the highest-paid non-QB in the league following a career year that saw him take the triple crown.

Meanwhile, Higgins cashes in on a long-awaited extension after being franchise-tagged not once, but two times in a row over the past two seasons. Chase and Higgins were the overall fantasy WR1 and WR2, respectively, in points per game among wide receivers to start at least 10 games in 2024, so it’ll be money well spent to keep their passing offense firing on all cylinders. With the amount of money Cincy has spent on offense, the defense is likely to struggle across the board in 2025, which could make the Bengals one of the fastest-paced and highest-scoring offenses in the league if it plays out in real life the way it looks on paper.