With no extension for Tee Higgins, are Bengals’ big three headed for final run?

CINCINNATI — The throw from quarterback Joe Burrow to Tee Higgins was poised to become a franchise-defining play for the Bengals.

In Super Bowl LVI against the Los Angeles Rams on Feb. 13, 2022, Burrow heaved the ball toward Higgins, one of his top wide receivers. Higgins turned, leaped, caught the pass and ran into the end zone for a 75-yard touchdown and a 17-13 lead early in the third quarter. It was the second TD for Higgins, who had 100 yards on four receptions.

The Rams ultimately won 23-20 to keep Cincinnati waiting for its first Lombardi Trophy. But a play that serves as a footnote is a reminder of what is possible — at least for one more season.

Between the regular season and playoffs, Higgins and teammate Ja’Marr Chase have combined for 51 touchdown catches and 7,399 receiving yards on passes from Burrow. But after Monday, this could be the last year Burrow will have this 1-2 combination. Higgins and the Bengals failed to reach an agreement on a long-term deal by Monday evening, which means Higgins will play 2024 on the franchise tag before entering free agency.

Even if it will cost Cincinnati $21.8 million to have Higgins for just a year, it’s a price the Bengals felt was worth investing to keep their passing trio together for a little bit longer.

“He’s one of the top receivers in this league,” coach Zac Taylor said at the NFL scouting combine earlier this year. “We don’t want that just walking out of the building.

“So when you get an opportunity to put a tag on him and keep him in the building and let him play at least another year for us, I think that’s critical.”

Higgins has been a massive part of Cincinnati’s rebuild under Taylor. When the Bengals drafted Burrow with the first overall pick in 2020, they used their next pick to take Higgins at the top of the second round. One year later, Cincinnati added Chase, Burrow’s former teammate at LSU.

Those three picks paved the way for one of the best runs in franchise history. In 2021 and 2022, Cincinnati won the AFC North and reached the conference championship game in each of those playoff runs, splitting games against Kansas City. Chase (3 times) and Burrow (1 time) have each made the Pro Bowl, while Higgins has remained productive when healthy.

However, maintaining that success comes at a steep cost. At $55 million annually, Burrow is the highest-paid player in NFL history. Chase is in line for a mammoth extension as well. Despite the lack of accolades, Higgins’ production has also warranted a significant payday.

That’s what makes the situation so precarious. Cincinnati is at risk of tying up significant chunks of its salary cap in three players. A precedent was set by the Philadelphia Eagles, who have given extensions to a quarterback (Jalen Hurts) and two receivers (A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith) that will take up more than 18% of their cap space in 2025, according to data from OverTheCap.

The Bengals could tag Higgins for a second straight year, but that would be back-to-back years of paying a premium, fully guaranteed salary.

“You’ve got to be really judicious with your money,” Bengals de facto general manager Duke Tobin said at the combine. “You’ve got to determine what’s needed and what’s just wanted. Like I’ve said before, it’s a finite pie, and we slice it up a lot of different ways.”

The numbers show how effective Cincinnati’s offense is when Burrow has Chase and Higgins at his disposal. When all three players have been on the field at the same time during the regular season, Cincinnati averages 5.8 yards per play, according to ESPN Stats & Information. To put that in perspective, the San Francisco 49ers lead the NFL in that category during that span at 6.2 yards per play.

After the Bengals ended 2023 by missing the playoffs for the first time since Burrow and Higgins’ rookie season, Burrow emphasized Higgins’ importance to Cincinnati’s success.

“He’s a big part of what we’ve done here,” Burrow said in January.

When the Bengals start training camp next Wednesday, it’ll mark the start of potentially the last run of Burrow, Chase and Higgins all in the same offense. It’s an opportunity Cincinnati will have to maximize if the trio wants another crack at leading the Bengals back to the Super Bowl.