'These Are Champagne Problems' - Cincinnati Bengals Remain Confident in Ability to Sign Stars This Offseason

INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals made their offseason plans perfectly clear on Tuesday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis: they plan on paying their star players this offseason.

From Tee Higgins to Ja'Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson—they plan on paying the big three.

"These are champagne problems," head coach Zac Taylor said with a smile. "We have great players that need to be rewarded at the top, and that's never an easy thing to just snap your fingers and it's done. And so we work through this diligently every single day. Myself, Duke, ownership, we're meeting all the time. We're all in alignment. We all want what's best for our team. We all want what's best for our players. We want them to be happy.”

Higgins is likely the first domino in the group. He's set to become a free agent next month. Duke Tobin made it clear that the Bengals plan on getting a long-term deal done with the 26-year-old.

"I want Tee Higgins. So I'm going to do what I can to get Tee Higgins," Tobin said. "Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement. Always has been. It continues to be. And we'll work hard to get that done."

Can they pay Higgins, Chase and Hendrickson? Champagne problems.

"We are fortunate. We've got a lot of really good football players, fantastic football players, and we're fortunate to be in a position to where we can fit them all in," Tobin said. "We've managed our cap well, we've got low dead money. We want a high payroll and low dead money so the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can get all the money. That's what we want. And we're in a position to re-sign these guys, and it's a good position to be in."

That's the main takeaway from Tuesday in Indianapolis. As the NFL world looks at Cincinnati with a side-eye, wondering if they're going to hold onto their stars—the Bengals' front office is thinking bigger.

They don't plan on just signing Chase, Hendrickson and Higgins and running it back next season. The plan is to pay their stars and make significant upgrades to the roster.

"We're going to attack it," Tobin said. "We don't want to just re-sign these guys and pay more or the same football team we had last year. We want to add to it as well. So we want to re-sign these guys, reward them for their ability level and add to the football team. It's a tall task. We think we're up to it."

It has to be music to the ears of Bengals fans everywhere. Last year wasn't good enough. Everyone knows it.

Re-signing Higgins, Chase and Hendrickson is a priority. Which one is highest on the list?

"Tee is the one who is not signed for the future right now. So that puts the onus on us to do something there, one way or the other earlier," Tobin said. "Ja'Marr is always going to be our priority. He's a fantastic football player. He's gonna ended up being the No.1-paid non-quarterback in the league. We're there. Let's get it done."

That's another takeaway from Tobin and Taylor. Their was a sense of urgency to get these long-term contracts in place.

The sooner, the better.

"The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team," Tobin said. "We have other needs that we want to build, 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. They're all priorities to us. But the ones that aren't signed are the ones that are on the table first."

The Bengals have a plan. They know what they have to do. They're confident they can keep their star players, sign them to long-term contracts and add other key pieces to their roster.

Marvin Lewis used to say "I see better than I hear." That's a fair response to the Bengals' message on Tuesday. A lot of people probably feel that way.

Now comes the hard part. They have to get these deals done. They have to add other key pieces to their roster in free agency.

Their actions have to back up what they said on Tuesday. This is a great position to be in—most teams would love to be able to pay Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson.

The Bengals know that and plan to get it done. All eyes will be on Cincinnati's champagne problems.

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