Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins reportedly both agree to contract extensions with Bengals

Ja'Marr Chase (1) and Tee Higgins (5) have long-term deals with the Bengals. (Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Cincinnati Bengals have reached contract extensions with both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, according to multiple media reports.

Chase's deal is for four years and $161 million and will make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history, according to NFL Network.

Higgins will sign for four years and $115 million, per the report.

The news on Chase confirms a Friday report that he was expected to sign a deal worth between $40.2 million and $41 million per season.

The deal keeps Cincinnati's top two receivers and the core of the Bengals' explosive passing game intact alongside quarterback Joe Burrow.

The Bengals are spending an average $125M per year on these three 🤯

Joe Burrow: $55M per year

Ja’Marr Chase: $40.25M per year

Tee Higgins: $28.75M per year pic.twitter.com/88E1pDgwkw — Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 17, 2025

Chase's path to record contract

The road to Chase's potentially huge windfall was contentious. He staged a "hold-in" last training camp, where he showed up to practices but didn't participate.

That made for some awkward news conferences with head coach Zac Taylor. Chase was on a four-year rookie deal and the Bengals picked up the option on a fifth-year (2025) that was scheduled to pay him $21 million. He earned $9.8 million last season. In response to the testy summer, Chase had the best season of his NFL career.

Chase, 25, won the league's triple crown for wide receivers, where he led the league in touchdowns (17), receptions (127) and receiving yards (1,708). It was the first time a receiver achieved the feat since the Los Angeles Rams' Cooper Kupp in 2021.

His best game of the 2024 season was against the Baltimore Ravens in November, when he had 11 catches for 264 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a tight 35-34 defeat on the road.

“He’s a fantastic football player,” Duke Tobin, the Bengals' director of player personnel, said at the NFL scouting combine. “He’s going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-QB in the league. We’re there. Let’s get it done."

They eventually got it done.

Higgins gets his long-term deal

Getting a deal done with Higgins was likewise a winding path. Higgins played on the franchise tag last season and was hit with the franchise tag for a second straight season in March. Under the tag, Higgins would have been due $26.2 million for the 2025 season.

He now has the long-term deal that he's long sought with the Bengals. Higgins earned $21.8 million on the franchise tag in 2024 and played on a four-year, $8.7 million rookie contract before that.

He responded to news of the deal Sunday on social media.

🤝 — Tee Higgins⁵ (@teehiggins5) March 17, 2025

Higgins, 26, is a five-season NFL veteran who has played his entire career with Cincinnati since the Bengals selected him with the first pick of the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has emerged as one of the NFL's best No. 2 options playing alongside Chase.

In 12 games last season, Higgins tallied 73 catches for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns.

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