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INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals are ready to make Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL—and they’re up for the “tall task” of re-signing their other top-earning players, too.
Chase is set to make $21.8 million in 2025 playing on his fifth-year option from his rookie contract, but he’s likely in line for a huge raise.
“Ja’Marr is always going to be our priority,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said late Tuesday afternoon at the NFL Scouting Combine. “He’s a fantastic football player. He’s going to end up being the No. 1–paid non-quarterback in the league. We’re there, let’s get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it [makes] us to build the rest of the team.”
Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson is currently the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, under a four-year, $140 million extension he signed last offseason that pays him an average annual salary of $35 million. So, Chase will be set to surpass that mark with an extension of his own.
The highest-paid player in the league is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who signed a four-year deal worth $240 million in 2024.
Chase’s counterpart in Cincinnati’s passing attack, receiver Tee Higgins, is set to be a free agent unless the Bengals place the franchise tag on him again, which appears unlikely. “Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement,” Tobin said. “Always has been. It continues to be.” Higgins played the 2024 season on the franchise tag, which paid him nearly $22 million.
Behind the Scenes
The Bengals don’t have a GM, but Tobin is the team’s top-ranking front-office executive. On Tuesday, he said the franchise ownership group, led by president Mike Brown, remains “highly involved” in personnel decisions.
“They’re there every day,” Tobin said. “They’ve been there every day, every day of their careers, and they’ll continue to do that, and they’re super good at what they do.”
As the Eagles have garnered praise for their use of void years to manipulate the salary cap, Tobin said he prefers to play things more straightforward.
“We’ve managed our cap well,” he said. “We’ve got low dead money. We want a high payroll, and low dead money so that the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can get all the money.”
Tobin said he hasn’t spoken to Joe Burrow about restructuring his contract—something the quarterback said he would be willing to do to help sign players like Chase, Higgins, and defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who has one year left on his contract.
Burrow’s input is valued, though, Tobin said: “I haven’t heard anything he’s said that I’m not in complete alignment on. I want the good players, too, and I think they ought to be paid to their ability level, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
