The Cincinnati Bengals are keeping star wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins after the pair agreed to contract extensions, according to multiple reports on Sunday night.
The receivers told Fox Sports, with figures confirmed by an NFL Network report, details of the new pacts. Chase, who was entering the final year of his most recent deal, agreed to a four-year, $161 million contract that includes $112 million guaranteed.
The annual average salary of $40.25 million sets the league record for most lucrative for a non-quarterback.
Higgins has agreed to a four-year, $115 million contract with the first two years guaranteed. The Bengals had used the franchise tag on Higgins for the second consecutive year to block him from reaching unrestricted free agency for the 2025 season. The one-year salary for franchise-tagged wide receivers is $26.2 million.
The Bengals and Higgins had a deadline of July 15 to come to terms on a long-term contract agreement. Higgins said he wanted to stay with Cincinnati. His trade value set under the terms of the CBA on franchise tags would be two first-round draft picks, if the team could have found a suitor for their No. 2 receiver.
The franchise was trying to figure out how to compensate two players at the same position as well as the entire team under the salary cap. The Bengals negotiated last preseason with Chase, who held out part of training camp before deciding to play without a new deal.
Chase, who turned 25 on March 1, led the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and touchdown receptions (17) as well as yards per game (100.5) in 17 games (16 starts).
The Bengals selected Chase with the fifth overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft out of LSU, where he was a teammate of his quarterback in Cincinnati, two-time Pro Bowl selection Joe Burrow.
For his career, Chase has 395 catches for 5,425 yards and 46 touchdowns in 62 regular-season games (61 starts). He also has 45 receptions for 588 yards and three TDs in seven playoff games (all starts).
He has been selected to the Pro Bowl in all four seasons, and was first-team All-Pro in 2024. Chase was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021.
Higgins, 26, played in 12 games (nine starts) in 2024 and caught 10 TD passes with 73 receptions for 911 yards. He has 34 career touchdowns, 330 catches and 4,595 yards in 70 regular-season games (62 starts) since being selected in the second round of the 2020 draft.
The Bengals used the No. 1 pick in the same draft to select Burrow, who has said he would be disappointed if Higgins doesn’t return.
–Field Level Media
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