On a Historic Day of Bengals Mold-Breaking With Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, One Important Thing Stayed Unchanged

Jay Morrison | Mar 19, 2025

Cincinnati Bengals receivers Tee Higgins (left) and Ja’marr Chase take the stage during a press conference to announce the signing of new contracts for the pair at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Chase becomes the new highest-paid non-quarterback player in the NFL. / Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI – Tuesday was one of the most significant days in Cincinnati Bengals history with so much about it deviating from the norm.

From the team not only making wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history and Tee Higgins the highest-paid WR2, but committing guaranteed money in the second year of their contracts.

Only one other player in team history had pulled that off in negotiating with the team, and Joe Burrow’s fingerprints were all over these deals as well.

There was the unconventional setting of a dual news conference to announce the deals, something staged only once before, when Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins did it in 2018.

And even this one stood in contrast to that one because Chase and Higgins share an agent in Rocky Arceneaux, who not only was in attendance, but filming a lot of it with his phone like a proud parent.

The one thing that wasn’t different?

Tee and Ja’Marr.

Richer, yes.

Different, no.

“Money just gives me access to do stuff I didn’t do when I was younger,” Chase said. “My friends tell me to this day, ‘you haven’t changed.’ I don’t think I will change. I’ll always be the same person. Confident. I’ll always be the same. I’ll never change.”

Anyone who has ever played or coached football will tell you it is the ultimate team sport, where the group is always bigger than the individual.

Occasionally players fail to grasp that.

Oftentimes, it’s the ones who play receiver.

That’s never been the case with Higgins or Chase.

But if ever there was a time to bask in some personal glory, the moments after signing a four-year, $161 million deal, as Chase did, or four years and $115 million in the case of Higgins, this would be it.

Set in stone. pic.twitter.com/lAjAo88LkK

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 18, 2025

But from the moment the two strolled toward the dais after some opening remarks from head coach Zac Taylor, it was the “We, Not Me” show.

“I was really trying not to let Tee go,” Chase said.

“He's been my road dog since he got here,” Higgins said of Chase. “For me, it was very important to get that aspect done.”

Last month at the Combine in Indianapolis, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin made it clear the team intended to make Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.

Fulfilling that promise got a little more difficult when the Cleveland Browns gave defensive end Myles Garrett a four-year, $160 million the day before free agency began.

What was Chase thinking about when he saw Garrett’s deal?

Tee, of course.

Yes, Garrett’s deal gave Chase more leverage, but he said he didn’t want the gap between his deal and Higgins’ to widen.

“I'm not a greedy person, and I'm not selfish,” Chase said. “I'm not gonna overdo nothing. This whole situation, throughout my whole process, I was talking to Rocky, actually making sure we get something on Tee's done, like, ‘Are we close to Tee's before mine?’

“I'm trying to make sure me and Tee are still around the same (compensation),” Chase added. “I want to make sure we’re at least together, close around the same part."

Close has never been an issue with Higgins and Chase since the latter arrived in Cincinnati in 2021 with the proclamation that he was coming here to break all the records.

The contracts they signed will bind them together as teammates for another four years.

But the previous four years – and the previous four months in particular, since Higgins fired agent David Mulugheta and signed up with Arceneaux while Burrow began publicly applying pressure on the front office to keep both receivers – make it feel as though their friendship is bond that will last for life.

“It's because we make each other better,” Higgins said. “Not just on the field, but off the field as well, as men.

“He's become one of my closest brothers, and we've been growing together as professional athletes, and I feel like we're going to do nothing but continue to grow.”

When friends are close, they can finish each other’s sentences.

When they’re Chase and Higgins, they can start them.

A reporter asked Higgins how it felt to be the highest-paid WR2 in the league.

“1A,” Chase said before Higgins could answer. “I’m fixin’ it. 1A.”

“I don't even look at it like that,” Higgins said. “I kind of wish they wouldn't have put it out there like that because now that's what everybody's saying, that I'm the highest paid 2. Let's just say I'm at a place where they value me and they respect me and I'm a good player.

“Let's just say that,” Higgins continued. “Not the highest receiver 2 or anything like that. Just say he's another great Bengals receiver that puts in the work and got his head down and just grinds.”

.@teehiggins5 shouts out his mom 🥹 pic.twitter.com/V8fHTbHvly

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 18, 2025

Title aside, the point remains that Higgins could have played out the franchise tag and left in free agency next year to make more money somewhere and be a clearcut No. 1 receiver.

Higgins said staying together with Burrow and Chase was important.

So was staying in Cincinnati.

“I grew up a Bengals fan, and to have the opportunity to sign a four-year deal with my favorite team that I grew up watching, I mean that's a dream come true,” he said. “And then, I guess once the announcement was out, my favorite player (A.J. Green) I grew up watching congratulating me on that is even more crazy.

“I couldn't be in a better place.”

Molds were broken today.

Character was not.

The image of Chase and Higgins sitting side by side with $100 million grins and an even richer bond will be cherished by Bengals fans for years to come.

 At least until it’s replaced if the ultimate change in franchise history occurs – a Super Bowl championship.

“That’s the whole goal behind signing us at the end of the day, signing us together,” Chase said.

“Tee and Ja'Marr, since the moment we drafted them, we knew they were built for something special,” Taylor said. “They have met our expectations every step of the way, even exceeded them to this point. Now that this is concluded, the next step for us is a championship with these guys.”

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