The task in front of the Cincinnati Bengals is obvious and clear — retain the core of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
How to make that happen is far from obvious and clear.
That’s something obvious to all onlookers and the core itself. Just ask Chase, who said he’s not sure how the team will manage to keep all three.
“It would be nice for Tee (Higgins) to be on the same side with me still as long as we can go,” Chase said at Super Bowl 57 Radio Row, according to USA Today’s Cydney Henderson. “Somebody later down the line is going to have to do something for us to have this team stay together.”
Of course, Chase is more focused on the on-field stuff than how the front office might make it all work. The Bengals have droves of cap space and an urgency to get Burrow’s extension done soon for this very reason — staggering the big extensions and staying ahead of rapidly growing markets could help retain all three.
Interestingly though, in another round of Super Bow media interviews, Chase actually dropped a really interesting comment about how Burrow might structure his extension in such a way that allows the team to keep weapons around him for a long time.
Shrewd navigation of the cap — something the Bengals front office has always been good at — and potentially a little help from Burrow (perhaps via rolling guarantees like Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City) might enable the dynamic trio to stay together for the long-term.
