Joe Burrow got his wish.
The Bengals locked up their quarterback’s two favorite targets this weekend at record-high prices, signing wideout Ja’Marr Chase to a four-year, $161 million extension and Tee Higgins to a four-year, $115 million deal.
Chase’s contract makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL while Higgins becomes the league’s highest-paid No. 2 wide receiver. Together, the contracts make them the NFL’s highest-paid wide receiver duo. Chase’s contract topped Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who recently signed a four-year, $160 million extension.
The deals come at a time when Bengals star defensive lineman Trey Hendrickson has asked for a trade out of the organization after leading the NFL in sacks in 2024. Hendrickson is seeking a contract extension ahead of the final year of his contract and the request could be seen as the franchise’s reluctance to pay every star player their worth. Despite the trade request, the team is still trying to extend Hendrickson’s contract, according to ESPN.
Before Garrett, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson held the richest non-quarterback contract with the four-year, $140 million extension he signed in 2024 that pays an average annual salary of $35 million. Coincidentally, Chase and Jefferson were college teammates with Burrow at LSU.
The Bengals narrowly missed the playoffs last season with a 9–8 record, but led the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, thanks to the receiving duo of Chase and Higgins.
Before signing the extension, Chase was set to make $21.8 million in 2025 off the fifth-year option in his rookie contract. At the NFL Draft combine in February, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin told reporters that paying Chase was “our priority” and wanted to make him the “No. 1 non-paid quarterback in the league.” He delivered on both fronts.
“The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it [makes] us to build the rest of the team,” Tobin said last month.
Higgins’ contract comes after the team placed the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive offseason, which would have paid him $26.18 million in 2025, up from the $21.81 million he made in 2024. His 2025 salary will roughly mirror the franchise tag pay, but his new deal has an average annual salary of $28.75 million.
The deals come after years of negotiations between the players and the team. Higgins was upset at playing under the tag last year and briefly requested a trade; he even held out of team activities in training camp before agreeing to play under the tag. Burrow, who is playing on his own five-year, $275 million extension he signed in 2023, has been very vocal about the team locking up both of his go-to receivers.
“We have several guys like [Chase] who have stepped up for us and deserved to be paid,” Burrow told ESPN at the Pro Bowl Games in January. “And deserve to be paid what they’re worth.”
Burrow and Chase played together with Jefferson on LSU’s 2019 national championship team, and Chase’s new contract continues to make their Tigers’ squad among the richest in NFL history. On Monday, Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who was also on that LSU team, agreed to a new three-year, $90 million contract extension to make him the highest-paid defensive back in NFL history. Together, Burrow, Chase, Jefferson, and Stingley’s contracts total $666 million.
