Bengals Accused of $115 Million Mistake in Signing

The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the best wide receiver rooms in the entire NFL, but maintaining offensive weapons like that is not cheap.

In a recent article by Yardbarker’s Seth Trachtman, he outlines one offseason move made by each team that he doesn’t quite understand. For the Bengals, he thinks that move is re-signing their star WR2, Tee Higgins.

“While the Bengals should be commended for keeping their offensive core together, it could be at the expense of a very leaky defense,” Trachtman wrote. “The team extended both Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase, while their defense was handicapped by significant spending. Higgins has played only 12 games in each of the last two seasons, and it remains to be seen if the team can remain competitive after paying two wideouts.”

Higgins is one of the biggest physical threat receivers in the league, and puts opposing defenses on notice whenever the Bengals are in the red zone, but he is a pretty expensive player to retain.

The 26-year-old wideout signed a four-year, $115 million extension back in March with the Bengals after some problems with contract negotiations the past few seasons. But as a result, the team has a lot less money to spend on their defense.

The most notable player that Cincinnati is most likely going to lose because of their lack of capital is star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. As the days go by, it is becoming less and less likely that he will return to the Bengals, and some of that fact may be due to the team’s unwillingness to spend money on their defense.

There is almost no doubt that Higgins will play well following his contract extension, but it remains to be seen whether or not the team’s defense will suffer as a result.