Bengals stress they want to keep Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on long-term deals

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) walks down the sideline during an off-season workout inside Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.

The Cincinnati Bengals have remained adamant at all times about wanting to keep wide receiver Tee Higgins for the long haul.

As expected, that tune didn’t change at league meetings this week, where Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn said the desire is to keep both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase on long-term deals.

Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com summed up the topic:

_The contracts of three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and franchise free agent wide receiver Tee Higgins are still a focus. She indicated they’d like to secure both long-term.

Easier said than done, of course. But there’s no reason to panic over the Chase extension.

The matter of Higgins is more concerning now that he’s been franchise-tagged and submitted a trade request. While one report said the Bengals will pick up the phone and listen to trade offers, head coach Zac Taylor himself doesn’t sound like a guy who expects a trade to happen.

Cincinnati would be doing itself a disservice if the front office didn’t do due diligence and listen to any trade offers that come in, though another report says they didn’t hear much about a trade at the scouting combine.

Higgins playing out 2024 on a tag has always felt like the likeliest outcome and after a dramatic rise in the salary cap across the league, there’s a possible scenario where the front office considers a second franchise tag, which could impact extension talks.

Either way, the Bengals and Higgins have until mid-July to agree on an extension or he’ll play next season on the tag.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals stress they want to keep Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on long-term deals