https://brobible.com/sports/article/bengals-working-on-extensions-higgins-wilson/

Get Joe's numbers confirmed and then onto Higgins and Wilson. This is a good sign that they are moving closer with Burrow

Update: The #Bengals want to sign WR Tee Higgins and LB Logan Wilson to long term extensions.

The team views Higgins as an "Elite" wide receiver, per @JFowlerESPN

They will focus on those deals once the Joe Burrow contract is done.https://t.co/0u8uxr2t1v pic.twitter.com/0lilqRcoHW

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 23, 2023

Quote:The Cincinnati Bengals are looking to secure long-term extensions for wide receiver Tee Higgins and linebacker Logan Wilson, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The team highly values Higgins, considering him an “elite” wide receiver, despite some outside perceptions that label him as a great WR2 rather than an exceptional number 1 option. The Bengals intend to focus on these contract negotiations once they have finalized a deal with quarterback Joe Burrow. Burrow is expected to earn over $50 million in his next contract, but he has expressed his commitment to keeping his teammates in mind, a sentiment appreciated by Higgins.

It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

You could always trade Higgins in a few years if you had to I suppose.

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

seriously, give the front office some credit here.  Of course, they understand they need to re-sign Chase.  But, if both Joe and Tee are under contract, Ja'Marr's contract next season could be the easiest of all, especially since Justin Jefferson will be extended by then so there will be a direct comp to look at.

I think he made up the part about the team thinking Higgins is elite. He may have interpreted it from them wanting to re-sign him but even if they did they wouldn't say that given his Agent's ears would perk up and that would mean he should be paid as elite. That would be an expensive misstep in contract negotiations.

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

It would be a mistake to let Higgins go.  May have to part ways with Mixon and get a cheaper RB.  But, keeping Burrow, Chase and Higgins is paramount to this offense making the Bengals an Elite team for the foreseeable future.

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

You're making the assumption that they're choosing one over the other.  They clearly want to keep both and think they can.

(05-23-2023, 11:59 AM)Graphicguy Wrote: It would be a mistake to let Higgins go.  May have to part ways with Mixon and get a cheaper RB.  But, keeping Burrow, Chase and Higgins is paramount to this offense making the Bengals an Elite team for the foreseeable future.

This board over values the impact Higgins has on this team. If Higgins goes, his production can be replaced. 

Having an elite QB makes Higgins expendable. Having a good DL and OL is more important than having an "elite" WR2. 

(05-23-2023, 12:04 PM)Stewy Wrote: You're making the assumption that they're choosing one over the other.  They clearly want to keep both and think they can.

Right. But who's to say that it's possible they can't get a deal done with Chase once they pay Higgins? We've seen players walk away before. Chase should be an untouchable 100% guy you CANNOT lose. If they sign Higgins, they BETTER figure out a way to sign Chase as well. 

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

One thing they must consider is value. If we could sign Tee for considerably less than Ja'Marr, then that's something to explore. 

I don't know how long y'all have been Bengals fans, but they ALWAYS offer for their 1 and 2 receiver and this may be the best combo ever so we know they want both. Not sure if y'all were paying attention to the draft but Hendrickson, Mixon, and Boyd will come off the books here soon and that is more than enough to sign Tee, Higgins, and Burrow...and their replacements are already on the team!

(05-23-2023, 12:25 PM)mhbsavant Wrote: I don't know how long y'all have been Bengals fans, but they ALWAYS offer for their 1 and 2 receiver and this may be the best combo ever so we know they want both. Not sure if y'all were paying attention to the draft but Hendrickson, Mixon, and Boyd will come off the books here soon and that is more than enough to sign Tee, Higgins, and Burrow...and their replacements are already on the team!

What are you talking about? There have numerous times where they've had two good receivers and they've ended up signing one and letting the other go in free agency. 

(05-23-2023, 12:25 PM)mhbsavant Wrote: I don't know how long y'all have been Bengals fans, but they ALWAYS offer for their 1 and 2 receiver and this may be the best combo ever so we know they want both. Not sure if y'all were paying attention to the draft but Hendrickson, Mixon, and Boyd will come off the books here soon and that is more than enough to sign Tee, Higgins, and Burrow...and their replacements are already on the team!

Well, almost. 

Mixon is as good as gone, and we save a smidge over $10 mil from him. Jonah's $12.5 comes off. That is $22.5+ mil. Boyd's $10.3 comes off the books, that is $33 mil, or thereabouts in savings. 

Burrow's 5th year option is $29.5 mil (compared to $11.5 this year). That is +$18 mil baked in. An extension will also need the signing bonus pro-rated in. So Burrow will likely add +$25 mil next year (before the extension kicks in the following year). Tee makes around $4 mil this year. His extension will kick in next year, IDK what contract kung fu we can do, but the cap hit is gonna be $15-$20 mil. Say $19, that is a +$15, and we are uo to +$40 mil next year for those two guys alone. 

Now, the cap itself will likely go up. Say $10-$15 mil, some of that will get eaten by baked in raises to other guys. Brown gets a bump next year, +$6 mil to cap hit. Say $5 mil or so is excess. We are still down $2 mil. $40 to $38. 

Hendrickson makes $17.5 with $2.5 dead cap. We could save $15 mil by letting him go. But premier pass rushers are hard to find. I would not count 9n him going, especially if he has a strong year (or Murphy does not). Ditto with Boyd (& Jones/Iosivas). 

There are lots of other guys that are up next year (Reader, $15.5, Awuzie $7.9) or we could save a chunk by letting go (Collins $7 mil, Hilton $6.45, BJ Hill $7 mil, Karras $6.4, Hubbard $6.1). I am all for keeping DJ, but 2 of those guys roughly equal Hendrickson. 

The benefit of Burrow's cap hit jumping so much in 2024 ($35 million-ish) is that with a good, creative contract structure, the jump in 2025 will not be as much. 

Boyd + Mixon + Jonah & Hendrickson = $47 mil or so in savings. That is enough. Likely for Wilson, too. But I am not sure it is those specific 4. Mixon & Jonah, yes. But I could see a combo of others instead of Hendrickson and/or Boyd. 

(05-23-2023, 12:11 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Right. But who's to say that it's possible they can't get a deal done with Chase once they pay Higgins? We've seen players walk away before. Chase should be an untouchable 100% guy you CANNOT lose. If they sign Higgins, they BETTER figure out a way to sign Chase as well. 

And you're getting all huffy about it.  It's like you think we don't "get it".  You're going to give yourself a heart attack over the next 2 years if you don't relax.

There is no point getting animated about this because #1 - The Bengals aren't listening to us and #2 - There's nothing we can do about it one way or another, whatsoever.

The Bengals either A - think they can sign both or B - Feel like they can't or don't want to pay Chase like the #1 receiver in the league, so they will sign Higgins instead.

Which of the above two options do you feel is more likely and what do you think we can do about it one way or another?

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

No way Chase gets away...

Having Tee's extension done now after Burrow would offset Chase's extension in the future, it CAN be done.

To the OP, thanks, Burrow is obviously the most important dude to sign anyways and with what he has said about wanting to keep Tee 
and his teammates here that help us win SB's this is probably the best way to go. Love Wilson as everyone knows, he represents my state
as a Wyomingite and Bengal fan but I honestly think DJ Reader is the hardest dude to replace now that we have a deal done with Pratt.

(05-23-2023, 12:25 PM)mhbsavant Wrote: I don't know how long y'all have been Bengals fans, but they ALWAYS offer for their 1 and 2 receiver and this may be the best combo ever so we know they want both. Not sure if y'all were paying attention to the draft but Hendrickson, Mixon, and Boyd will come off the books here soon and that is more than enough to sign Tee, Higgins, and Burrow...and their replacements are already on the team!

Tyler Boyd was the first WR they've signed to a veteran deal worth $10+ mill APY who wasn't their WR1.
Every other WR2 was getting around $7 mill APY or less.

Going back to when they lost Housh to $8 mill APY to SEA...
Coles - 4 year, $28 mill ($7 mill APY)
Bryant - 4 year, $28 mill ($7 mill APY)
Owens - 1 year, $4 mill
LaFell - 2 years, $10 mill ($5 mill APY)

Back then, the salary cap was about 53% what it is now, so you could realistically say the Bengals would have spent around the equivalent of $13-14 mill today for a WR2 if going off the same salary cap percentage.

I can see Bengals willing to pay around $15-17 mill APY for Higgins with the first 1-2 years maybe in the $18-20 mill range so that the cap hit is lower when Chase's new contract hits, but I can't see them paying $20+ mill APY for Higgins, which I think he could get on the open market from a team looking to really have him be the majority target share as a true WR1.

(05-23-2023, 11:24 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: It'd be a mistake to value Higgins over Chase.

If they sign Higgins, then they absolutely need to sign Chase as well. If you are picking one, it should be Chase. Really hope they don't dig themselves into a hole by signing Higgins while letting Chase get away.

Who's valuing Higgins over Chase?  The only things that I've heard or read from the team or any players is that they would prefer to keep al 3 (Burrow, Higgins, Chase) together on the team.  There is still nearly a year before it's even time to declare on the 5th year option for Chase.  A lot can happen between now and then.

(05-23-2023, 02:32 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Who's valuing Higgins over Chase?  The only things that I've heard or read from the team or any players is that they would prefer to keep al 3 (Burrow, Higgins, Chase) together on the team.  There is still nearly a year before it's even time to declare on the 5th year option for Chase.  A lot can happen between now and then.

Why wouldn't you value Higgins over Chase? Chase is an injury liability who some sucker is still going to pay as if he can put up that level of production for a full season. Getting his level of production for 13 games is fine when he's still on his rookie contract, but giving Chase any kind of an extension will pan out as well as the Ken Griffey, Jr. contract did for the Reds. On the other hand, yes, Higgins missed time this past season, too, but at least he has played a full season in the past, and with his height and size, he is less of an injury liability than the tiny Chase. Also, his height and size is the only reason this offense can work despite not having a good TE, because Higgins can run down the middle of the field and get hit and not get seriously hurt like Chase would.

(05-23-2023, 03:48 PM)dxdtdemon Wrote: Why wouldn't you value Higgins over Chase? Chase is an injury liability who some sucker is still going to pay as if he can put up that level of production for a full season. Getting his level of production for 13 games is fine when he's still on his rookie contract, but giving Chase any kind of an extension will pan out as well as the Ken Griffey, Jr. contract did for the Reds. On the other hand, yes, Higgins missed time this past season, too, but at least he has played a full season in the past, and with his height and size, he is less of an injury liability than the tiny Chase. Also, his height and size is the only reason this offense can work despite not having a good TE, because Higgins can run down the middle of the field and get hit and not get seriously hurt like Chase would.

To bolded:  That's a bad analogy, as KG Jr. came to the Reds late in his career, after multiple stints on the IR with Seattle.  Chase is young, and ready to maintain superstar status for at least the next decade.  

As far as valuing Higgins over Chase, I can't see it.  It appears to me that replacing big bodied boundary receivers is much easier than finding another dynamic, complete playmaker like Jamarr Chase.   

(05-23-2023, 03:48 PM)dxdtdemon Wrote: Why wouldn't you value Higgins over Chase? Chase is an injury liability who some sucker is still going to pay as if he can put up that level of production for a full season. Getting his level of production for 13 games is fine when he's still on his rookie contract, but giving Chase any kind of an extension will pan out as well as the Ken Griffey, Jr. contract did for the Reds. On the other hand, yes, Higgins missed time this past season, too, but at least he has played a full season in the past, and with his height and size, he is less of an injury liability than the tiny Chase. Also, his height and size is the only reason this offense can work despite not having a good TE, because Higgins can run down the middle of the field and get hit and not get seriously hurt like Chase would.

Did you really compare Chase to Griffey? Come on man!