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The Cincinnati Bengals have significantly underwhelmed in 2024, currently sitting at third place in AFC North with a record of 8-8. As calendars turn to January, some teams around the league are preparing for their final push for the playoffs, while others have already begun their preparation for the 2025 NFL draft.
Despite their relatively poor showing this season, though, the Bengals have a bright future and are well-positioned to contend for Vince Lombardi Trophies for years to come. But in order to maximize the championship window, the Bengals must play their cards right and make smart decisions over the next 24 months. These good decisions can start with locking up their young receiving talent for the foreseeable future.
Chase and Higgins have established relationships with Joe Burrow
Ja'Marr Chase has a particularly long and successful history with Joe Burrow, dating all the way back to their college days together as teammates at LSU. Their strong relationship continued in the NFL as both players reunited in Cincinnati. Chase and Burrow instantly found success at the professional level, while Burrow also brought out the best in Tee Higgins.
These two receivers balance each other out perfectly. Chase is an elite all-around player and a dynamic big-play threat, while Higgins is an ultra-reliable possession receiver in the mold of Anquan Boldin. Higgins has elite size and is adept at using his body to shield the ball from the defender and secure the catch.
Higgins is also an adequate big-play receiver in his own right, and he’s particularly lethal as a weapon in the red zone. That’s because he is a very physical receiver who can box out the defender with his body and create jump ball scenarios. He’s excellent as a “rebound” receiver, positioning himself like a power forward or center underneath the basket. He uses his body to block the defender from the ball while positioning himself to make the catch. Burrow has proven time and time again that he has faith in Higgins and trusts the former Clemson star with jump ball opportunities in the red zone.
Jumpball plays to Higgins are one of the go-to plays in Cincinnati’s red zone playbook, and they have proven wildly successful time and time again. The only way for a defensive coordinator to reliably shut down this play is to commit additional resources to Higgins and double-team him. This approach involves keeping one player between him and the quarterback to force the throw into a tighter window and the other defender closer to Higgins to fight through his body and break up the pass at the catch point.
However, while this approach has proven effective, it also takes critical additional assets away from other defensive priorities. The secondary defender is often being diverted away from Chase, leaving the Bengals’ best receiver with a one-on-one matchup. That is a scenario that Burrow and the Bengals will happily take every time that they are in the red zone.
A dynamic passing game is vital to the Bengals’ offensive success
For better or worse, the Bengals have built their offensive philosophy in recent years around a dynamic passing game. They invested heavily in this approach, selecting Burrow and chasing pass-catchers with premium draft capital.
It was a wise move to select two players who had played together in college, as Burrow and Chase had already developed a relationship and knew how to maximize each other’s strengths. The team doubled down on their pass-heavy approach by extending Burrow to a lucrative contract, locking up a young star at the quarterback position for the foreseeable future.
They would be wise to build on that approach by extending Chase and Higgins to lucrative and rewarding, yet reasonable deals that keep the team’s fiscal situation manageable while securing their young talent for several years to come.
The market is only going to get more expensive
One of the immutable rules in the NFL is that going market rates never get cheaper once they have been established. Every time the next wave of young stars begins signing deals, it only resets the market for those who come after.
The Bengals don’t want to be one of those teams who wait too long and end up being unable to afford to extend critical players. The team hopes to be on the board later in the draft in future years while contending for Super Bowl rings, where they’ll be out of the range to select top-notch playmakers.
The Bengals have talented young players they can extend right now. It’s vital that they strike while the iron is hot and keep these essential players in town for many years to come.
