Bengals Extend Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — Fantasy Reaction

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It increasingly felt inevitable, but the Cincinnati Bengals finally got it done overnight Sunday night, agreeing to terms on long-term, big-money extensions with WRs Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to keep the offensive core in place. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Chase got a four-year, $161 million extension (making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history), and Higgins got four years and $115 million.

The Bengals had placed the franchise tag (his second) on Higgins earlier this month to give them time to negotiate the extension, but now he has his big-money deal to stick around. With those two now locked up, attention in Cincinnati now must turn to Trey Hendrickson, last year’s No. 2 finisher in Defensive Player of the Year voting, who also wants an extension. The Bengals have said as late as Monday morning that they still hope to agree to an extension with Hendrickson, but they have also granted him permission to seek a trade, and money starts getting tight after the dollars committed to Chase, Higgins and QB Joe Burrow.

For now, though, the Bengals have a top-three set of weaponry that ranks up there with any in the league. Since entering the league in 2021, Chase has 1,212.7 PPR points, a hair behind Justin Jefferson for second among WRs in that time (Tyreek Hill leads the way at 1,238.3). He leads all receivers with 46 receiving touchdowns in that time, two more than Mike Evans and five more than Hill (no one else is within 10). Meanwhile, Higgins has played one more season than Chase and missed more time (he’s played 70 games in five years compared to Chase’s 62 in four), but his 994.3 PPR points in his career ranks as WR19 in that time. Not many teams can hope to contend with a duo like that.

In four years, Chase has had at least 16.4 PPR points per game in every season, including 23.7 last year when he won the receiving Triple Crown. Higgins, meanwhile, has had at least 14.9 PPG in three of five years, including a career-best 18.5 last year. He’s battled injury, playing only 12 games in each of the last two years, but when he’s on the field he’s plenty productive.

And of course, the biggest winner of both receivers staying in Cincinnati is likely Burrow, who gets to keep his star pair together. And with the Bengals already having a subpar defense and Hendrickson potentially on the move, the Bengals are going to have no choice but score massive points to win games. There’s a very real chance Burrow contends for QB1 in 2025 (even with his relative lack of rushing) on the backs of two WR1 finishers. It remains to be seen how successful the Bengals themselves will be with an elite offense and massive question marks on defense, but for fantasy, this has the potential to be a massive gold mine.