National Analyst Rips Bengals for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins Contract Structures

The Bengals signed Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to long-term contract extensions in March.

On the surface, it was a great move for the organization. Keeping two of their franchise cornerstones was a no-brainer. How they structured those contracts left something to be desired and it hurt their chances of adding more pieces to the roster this offseason.

This is something we wrote about in March. Robert Mays shined a bright light on the issue last month.

"Go look at the contract structures for Ja'marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Go look at them. Combined against the cap this year, those two players are going to be making about $50 million. That's about what they were going to be making before they signed the extensions," Mays said on the Athletic Football Show. "You look at every other major wide receiver extension over the last three or four years, and you look at the year one cap number and how that plays into the broader AAV (average annual value). CeeDee Lamb, who was on a contract that is in the same area code as Ja'Marr Chase's, made $8 million against the cap in year one. Ja'Marr will be at $25 million."

Chase became the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL when he signed a four-year, $161 million deal that included $112 million guaranteed. The 25-year-old is under contract through the 2029 campaign.

Higgins signed a four-year, $115 million extension. He's under contract through the 2028 season.

The Bengals could've cleared significant cap space with both contracts to add more veterans to their roster in free agency. Instead, they essentially broke even.

Chase's 2025 cap hit went up by $1.75 million to $23.575 million. Higgins' dropped by $2.117 million.

"This team just doesn't pull the levers that other teams do," Mays said. "And I think it's always going to put you at a disadvantage. I'm not asking them to do anything crazy. This isn't like a ton of void years or any of that other stuff where you're all like so much cash over cap that you can't survive as an organization run like the Bengals are. These are layups to be taken. This is just modern NFL contract structures. You shouldn't be in a situation cap-wise like they are after paying those two guys where you're not giving yourself any sort of relief."

The Bengals could've realistically created $12-$14 million in cap space with Chase and Higgins' extensions. Instead, they broke even.

It was a major topic in March, especially considering they didn't add many pieces to their team in free agency.

After signing TJ Slaton, they essentially re-signed a few familiar faces, kept Chase and Higgins and are banking on young players and rookies to make a big impact.

Check out Mays' full comments on the podcast below: