Bengals make one thing clear: Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins aren’t going anywhere

The Bengals re-affirmed their commitment to quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Tee Higgins, two franchise cornerstone pieces key to their burgeoning success.

The Cincinnati Bengals know they have something good, and they won’t play with it. They won’t take chances losing it. They won’t neglect the elite offensive trifecta that is Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins and they’ll hope those three pay off in the long term.

While Lamar Jackson is busy posting cryptic messages on social media and extorting the Baltimore Ravens for a ridiculous amount of guaranteed money, the Bengals are moseying along this offseason. They’re speeding past other poorly managed franchises on cruise control, windows rolled down, Joe Shiesty leaning back in the driver’s seat with his signature suave sunglasses and that know-it-all grin plastered on his face.

The Bengals could have beaten the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship last year. They know it, the Chiefs know it, the league knows it. With most of their young and promising roster returning for 2023, Cincy has only a few loose ends to tie up, and that starts with extending Burrow and Higgins this offseason.

Burrow, who just completed his third season in the league, is now eligible for a contract extension — and based on the fires burning in Baltimore, Cincinnati will want to lock down its franchise quarterback sooner rather than later.

Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins are two of the Bengals’ biggest priorities this offseason

Cincinnati’s director of player personnel Duke Tobin recently said that he plans on getting a Burrow contract done; as for Higgins, Tobin laughed at the trade rumblings and had this message for the rest of the league:

Higgins’ rookie deal will expire after the 2023 season, so the Bengals may want to start negotiating a new contract as soon as possible. The 24-year-old receiver is a high priority, for sure, but perhaps not as high as Joe Burrow, whose contract will no doubt be the largest and most daunting to fit from a salary cap perspective.

When the Bengals inked former quarterback Carson Palmer to his extension back in 2005, the team closed that deal with time remaining on Palmer’s rookie contract. Cincy will likely go down a similar route with Burrow to spread out his projected monstrous cap hit over several years.

Once the Bengals work out a sustainable way to structure Burrow’s extension, they can then focus on retaining other key roster pieces like Higgins and linebacker Logan Wilson. Adhering the Tom Brady model would work best in the team’s interests as the Bengals can reserve room for any splash free agency signings and build a tight-knit supporting cast around Burrow for 2023 and beyond.

The third tine of the Bengals’ offensive trident is Ja’Marr Chase, who won’t be eligible for an extension until 2024.

Their AFC North rivals may be staring down the barrel of a fully guaranteed quarterback contract, but not the Bengals. Their plan is more or less simple: first, extend Burrow. The rest will follow.