The subject of the Cincinnati Bengals finding a way to keep Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins while fielding an overall contending roster creates all sorts of diverse takes.
It seems like a non-starter for most Bengals fans, as years of seeing other teams make moves that suggest the “cap isn’t real” is more than enough to suggest the team can find a way to keep all three.
But not everyone is so convinced.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic chatted with anonymous people within the NFL and at least two of them think Higgins should be the odd man out.
“Higgins is good, but I think you let Higgins walk,” an assistant coach said. “Honestly, you may want to try to trade him this year while there’s value and then go draft a young receiver. He’s really good in that system. He’s a good receiver, but I don’t think he’s so dynamic that you can’t replace his value or production. Chase is going to command so much more attention, that whoever is playing opposite of him is going to get favorable matchups.”
Another anonymous executive said the Bengals should use the goodwill earned by strong roster building to trade or let Higgins walk and find a replacement while paying up big for Burrow and Chase.
For fans, it’s fair to understand Higgins could draw big trade compensation if an extension can’t be reached while still being adamantly against it.
The problem with trading or letting Higgins walk is that there is a very good chance they can’t just up and replace him well — the entire league let him become a second-round pick, after all.
We’ve already seen signs the Bengals have plans to keep all three. Contracts for big free agents like Orlando Brown Jr. saw the team leaving comfort zones and pushing money to future years. And getting a Higgins deal done this summer would help get big cash out of the way before something like Chase’s deal. And if all else fails, Chase has hinted Burrow will take a deal that helps his weapons stay.
There’s merit to the conversation about things getting tougher for the Bengals once they stop enjoying Burrow playing on a rookie contract, but all signs point to the Bengals wanting to keep all three.
