The Offseason Journey to Contract Paradise in Cincinnati: Will Bengals Get Big Deals Done?

Near the end of Duke Tobin’s podium session with the media at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, the director of player personnel for the Bengals continued to answer a trend of questions that has dominated headlines in Cincinnati for months. You know the questions I'm talking about, they rhyme with "smontracts."

Do the Bengals feel they need to get deals done with their stars before training camp? Ja'Marr Chase now owns a triple crown, Trey Hendrickson led the league with 17.5 sacks, and Tee Higgins is poised as the most valuable free agent on the current market (not that he'll make it there).

“I would like to get them all done tomorrow,” Tobin said. “We are trying to get them done as soon as we can.”

Tobin’s words on Tuesday were a pivot from his remarks at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama a month ago when he told the Cincinnati Enquirer that it would be a difficult path navigating an opportunity to keep Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins together.

“It's going to be hard," Tobin said. "We feel like we have the resources to do it, but it all depends on how the negotiation goes and whether they're willing to accept wanting to come back at a number that makes sense for everybody.”

After those comments, rumors swirled that the Bengals would not be able to afford to keep all of their stars and that storyline grew legs and sprinted through radio row in New Orleans two weeks later.

That race continued until Joe Burrow walked in on Thursday morning and cut the legs off of that storyline through his many interviews ahead of the NFL Honors.

The first time I met Burrow in person in 2021 we walked back from the practice field in the heat of July. I asked him how he was adjusting to having media inside of the locker room as media were barred in 2020 due to covid restrictions his rookie year.

In his typical, simple fashion he replied, “It is so weird.”

Burrow takes a reserved approach to media. He does the required weekly and post-game press conferences, but he doesn’t spend much time in front of cameras outside of those parameters and certainly doesn’t spend his time holding court in the locker room with reporters like other star players.

While he’s always approachable and pleasant with media, he isn’t a guy who is going to entertain on-the-record questions unless he’s got the official microphone and team backdrop behind him.

Knowing the background to his usual approach, his multi-interview appearance at radio row was surprising up until the moment he spoke.

From his interview with FS1 to CBS and every major network in-between Burrow expressed the importance of getting his teammates the “money they deserve” specifically related to Chase, Higgins, Hendrickson and Mike Gesicki.

The NFL’s all-time leader in completion percentage continued to make the case over and over again with each outlet that his franchise could make the contracts work and even provided some detail for a path to achieving his desired goal.

This was a direct contradiction to Tobin's initial message of difficulty when it comes to slicing up the pie in 2025.

Both men’s comments came after their post-season meeting.

What changed Tobin’s tune?

One factor could certainly be the new salary cap for 2025. Teams were informed last week that the cap[ will be between $277.5 million and $281.5 million for the 2025 season, an increase north of $25 million from last season.

There was a reason Burrow felt compelled to spend more time in front of camera’s in one day than he had all season combined during his most successful season, personally.

Last year, the Bengals approached Chase about a contract extension and negotiations began. Chase stalled as he waited for his former LSU teammate, Justin Jefferson’s deal to get done. A 4-year, $140M deal was inked in Minnesota in June with nearly 80% of that money guaranteed.

Chase didn't practice in training camp and towards the end, it was announced that the two sides didn’t not come to an agreement before the 2024 season would begin.

Tobin is available to speak roughly three times a year, once in Mobile, Alabama during the Senior Bowl, the NFL Combine, and Mock Turtle Soup Day, the annual media luncheon held by the Cincinnati Bengals before training camp begins.

What happened between Cincinnati’s front office and Chase’s camp? We asked Tobin on Tuesday.

“Last summer? He (Ja’Marr Chase) changed his mind which is fine, we understood,” Tobin said. “It’s not hard feelings about this kind of stuff, I don’t get angry about this kind of stuff. It’s just business. We are looking out for the 53 players on the team and a lot of times they’re looking out for the one. That’s their job to look out for the one, their agent’s job to look out for the one and they have to understand it’s my job to look out for the totality. We can’t be a one, or two, or three-person team.”

The other 51-players in the building (Not counting Burrow) understand it that the NFL is a business. Tobin is right, each player is looking out for his own security that comes with NFL contracts. They pay attention to the deals that get done not just in their own building but around the league as well.

The lack of ink-to-paper with the NFL’s star wide receiver can put doubt into other players’ minds regarding security with certain teams.

Burrow went out and did something that he did not enjoy to make sure his teammates understood the message that he would go and fight and apply pressure for their money and security.

When will the deals get done?

That’s the answer that everybody is in search of, but Cincinnati’s front office has also sent a message in Tobin’s words: they’re motivated to give their quarterback what he wants and keep the top talent inside Paycor Stadium.

“We are in a position to reward these guys at a high level," Tobin said. "We are willing, and able, and want to do that and I am optimistic that we will be able to do it."

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