Bengals' Higgins, Chase react to Burrow contract comments

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bengals' Tee Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase react to Joe Burrow contract comments

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 5/16/23

Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase noticed how quarterback Joe Burrow said Tuesday he wants what "is best for myself and the team" regarding a contract extension.

"It just tells everybody he wants to keep his weapons around," Higgins remarked, as shared by WKRC out of Cincinnati. "Hopefully we can do that and keep building from here. Obviously, we talk about staying together for the long run. Hopefully, we can do that and get something negotiated to where they can keep all three of us."

Higgins is about to enter the final season of his rookie contract and has been mentioned in numerous trade rumors since the winter months.

Chase, meanwhile, earned 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, is a two-time Pro Bowl selection and probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon no matter how much money Burrow earns from his second pro deal.

As mentioned by Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' website, Burrow noted on Tuesday that a quarterback can only do so much on his own regardless of his abilities.

"If you don't have good players around (the quarterback), you're not going to be a very good team," Burrow added without directly stating he'd accept significantly less money than what Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens recently received to keep the band together in Cincinnati. Nevertheless, Burrow's teammates appreciated the overall message.

"He knows what he has to do to win and he wants to win," Chase said about his QB1. "He's a winning guy. He's not a quarterback that's always interested in money and all that other stuff. He just wants to win, and that's the big thing about Joe."

However, Chase also acknowledged that "sometimes we might lose people" due to the league's salary cap guidelines.

For now, it sounds like everybody involved is happy to focus on helping the Bengals get back to the Super Bowl after they fell one game short of that goal this past January.

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