🏈 The Rumor Mill is Churning in Cincy

Sports Illustrated

What to know: After another disappointing season in Cincinnati, the Bengals enter the offseason with some, allegedly, high hopes. At least, financial high hopes.

The team is going to attempt to pull off a trifecta, signing wider receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, along with defensive end Trey Hendrickson, to long term deals. Who knows if they can actually do this, but it seems like internally they are under the assumption that they are going to go BIG after their guys.

The most controversial is Tee Higgins. The talented WR is obviously good enough to be THE wide receiver for any team in the NFL, and he should expect to receiver that kind of money this offseason. The Bengals, however, are not afraid to use their franchise tag on Higgins if no long-term deal is reached by the March 4 tag deadline. However, we’ve seen in previous years how star players respond to getting the tag, and they usually aren’t excited about it. Many hold out.

Ja’Marr Chase, coming off a season where he led the NFL in receiving yards, touchdowns, and receptions, will be looking to become the highest paid WR in the NFL, and deservedly so. That being said, it may shake out that Cincy has two of the top 5 paid WRs in the NFL. Boy, that’s a lot of pressure to produce.

On the defensive side of the ball, Hendrickson led the NFL in sacks last season and has been a corner piece of an otherwise not so impressive defense. He’ll surely ask for the contract of an elite pass rusher, which in today’s market, would be north of $30 million a year.

All in all, that’s a lot of money. Especially for a team that has other needs that need to be filled. On the flip side of this, Cincy surely has the talent to be a Super Bowl team, especially if all three return. Oh, the life of a NFL front office executive.

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