Cincinnati Bengals receivers Tee Higgins (left) and Ja’marr Chase take the stage during a press conference to announce the signing of new contracts for the pair at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Chase becomes the new highest-paid non-quarterback player in the NFL. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bengals Offseason Moves Ranked Among NFL's Most Impactful

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Jul 26, 2025 10:12 AM ET

The Bengals made big waves this offseason by securing Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on new contracts. CBS Sports writer Tyler Sullivan named it the third-most impactful move of the now-completed 2025 offseason.

Higgins is under contract through the 2028 season, while Chase is tied down through 2029.

"In a vacuum, those deals are all well and good, as both Higgins and [Mike] Gesicki have proven to be solid pieces for Joe Burrow," Sullivan wrote. "That said, keeping those figures in-house appears to have come at the cost of not improving the defensive side of the ball. The Bengals remain embattled in contract disputes with both star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson and first-round edge rusher Shemar Stewart. Specifically with Hendrickson, if that situation continues to devolve and lead to his departure, a Cincinnati defense that was already poor in 2024 will lose its best player, who just led the NFL with 17.5 sacks.

"Instead of signing Higgins and/or Gesicki, there was a strong case to be made for Cincinnati to use that capital to bolster the defensive side of the ball, even if that meant taking a small step backwards offensively. After all, the Bengals had six losses when the offense scored 25 or more points last season, which tied an NFL record. They also had two losses when scoring 38 or more points (also tied for an NFL record)."

There has now been a contract-related distraction for the Bengals to tackle in every training camp this decade, dating back to Joe Mixon's 2020 hold in.

Getting Hendrickson in the fold before August would make the offseason feel even better after Stewart was signed on Friday to officially start his Bengals career.