Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase does not want to see the triumvirate of himself, Tee Higgins, and Joe Burrow ever break up.
With Higgins about to hit free agency, it might be easier said than done.
Tee Higgins Is a Wanted Man by His Teammates
Add Chase to the growing list of people that do not want to see Higgins leave Cincinnati. The free agent has not been able to see eye-to-eye with the Bengals on an extension, and there is doubt they will reach an accord for Higgins to stay, despite the pleas of his teammates.
“I wish I could sign Tee myself & have them ‘Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins’ with me for eternity…,” Chase said. “It’s 100% possible. It’s just playing chess at this point.”
🚨NEWS: Ja’Marr Chase wants to play with Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins forever on the #Bengals.
“I wish I could sign Tee myself & have them ‘Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins’ with me for eternity… It’s 100% possible. It’s just playing chess at this point.”
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) January 8, 2025
Burrow has gone on record saying the same thing. He likes his receiving corps exactly the way it is. He wants to leave everyone intact.
“[Me and Higgins] started this whole thing together. We came in together [in the 2020 NFL Draft] and built this thing from the ground up. You don’t want to make a habit of letting great players get out of the building,” Burrow said.
Burrow continued to plead his case.
“Like I said [earlier in the week], Tee’s a great player. A guy that does everything the right way and works really hard for it. When you have a guy like that, you just can’t let him get out of the building,” Burrow added.
Higgins has been struggling with his ankle and knee injuries throughout the season. He was sidelined in Cincinnati’s first two games due to a hamstring injury. Then, his quad injury forced him out from Weeks 7-9.
Likewise, in Week 11, Higgins suffered a blow to his back from Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman. Higgins again hurt his ankle against the Cleveland Browns in Week 16, yet he returned to the field in both games.
The Bengals drafted Higgins in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He just finished his fifth season with the Bengals, playing on a $21.8 million franchise tag after the two parties couldn’t previously agree on a long-term extension.
Higgins opened up about the deal to the press, saying, “It’s my third time going through it. I kind of know what to expect, how negotiations work. Obviously, it’s gonna be a little different because possibly I could make a little bit more money. Hopefully that’s the case. Like I said, I’m just going to talk with my agent,” he added.
Burrow has hinted towards the possibility of Higgins leaving the Bengals, but he added that it’s not in the plans.
Prior to Cincinnati’s Week 18 win, Burrow has been a top-five quarterback based on PFN’s QB+ metrics. With a score of 92.1 (A- grade), he has Higgins and leading receiver Chase mostly to thank for it. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the Bengals’ subpar defense for much of the season, Burrow could very well be in the MVP conversation, given his impressive numbers on the year.
Nevertheless, Cincinnati would not like to let go of their two-time 1,000-yard receiver for nothing.