Duke Tobin Notes Bengals Are Ready to Make Ja'Marr Chase NFL's Highest-Paid Non-Quarterback

CINCINNATI — Stars like Ja'Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson are either due or want new deals from the Bengals this offseason and Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin addressed those timelines on Tuesday.

He met with the media at the start of the 2025 NFL Combine. The biggest deal and name for Cincinnati to handle is Chase, who is reportedly looking to completely reset the wide receiver market and become a $40 million per year player.

Tobin confirmed Cincinnati will make him the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback.

"He [Chase] is going to end up being the number one paid non-quarterback in the league," Tobin said to the media. "We're there. let's get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team. We have other needs that we want to build, and so we want to get these kind of things done early enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team, but they're all priorities to us but the ones that aren't signed, are the ones that are on the table first."

Chase's new contract could linger into the summer, but finalizing a plan for Hendrickson first will help the team see where the whole roster stands in one of the most important offseason's in team history.

"We don't expect them to just do what we want," Tobin said about these negotiations. "And they have to expect some negotiation, because we're putting together a big picture, and our players want a good football team, and we're going to attack that and and respect that, and also respect the level of production and ability level our players have. We're not trying to insult anybody, particularly at the top of our football team. We're fortunate to have fantastic football players, and we're going to treat them as such."

Hendrickson has earned a raise after posting 17.5 sacks each of the last two seasons on a bargain deal for the Bengals.

"He is super engaged and and we're cognizant he's been a great signing for us," Tobin said about Hendrickson. "We've been a great fit for him. He's been a great fit for us. We would like to extend that. We would like to keep him not only happy but with us on a longer-term basis. And we're going to talk. He's under contract right now, and we're going to talk as the offseason goes, and hopefully come up to an agreement that everyone's acceptable of you know, but are we there yet? We're not there yet."

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