{"id":8920,"date":"2025-03-25T09:52:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T09:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365scores.com\/news\/?p=8920"},"modified":"2025-03-25T09:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T09:52:08","slug":"bengals-wide-receivers-2025-cap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.365scores.com\/news\/bengals-wide-receivers-2025-cap","title":{"rendered":"Bengals Bungle Team Building 101: Your Franchise QB Shouldn\u2019t Need the Most Expensive Wide Receiver Duo in NFL History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The NFL<\/a> is largely through the free agency period<\/a> even if Aaron Rodgers is making a few teams wait<\/a> for his decision. But while most of the deals have been modest, this is the time of year where teams can spend foolishly, including mega-sized deals for positions unlikely to move the needle like right guard or a No. 2 wide receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one team that took care of their own is the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, who reset the market for what a top-tier wide receiver can make as well as a new benchmark for a No. 2 wide receiver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ja\u2019Marr Chase<\/a> signed a 4-year extension worth $161 million, the richest contract in NFL history (by average annual value) for a non-quarterback. The Bengals also hooked up Tee Higgins<\/a> with a 4-year extension worth $115 million ($28.75 million per year), the richest deal for a WR2 in NFL history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Add it up and the Bengals are paying about $69 million per season to keep their wide receiver duo in Cincinnati. That\u2019s nice for the position and the player\u2019s bank accounts. That\u2019s nice for the stat lines of Joe Burrow<\/a>, who already reset the quarterback market at $55 million per year in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is it nice for the team\u2019s chances at winning a Super Bowl? Even if the creative accounting the team will use frees up enough space to make a long-term deal<\/a> for pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, that\u2019s a lot of money going to four players who you\u2019ve already shown you can miss the playoffs with in back-to-back years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How exactly are things going to get better with more money for them and less for everyone else? Cincinnati\u2019s 2025 free-agent additions (the return of running back Samaje Perine, linebacker Oren Burks, and defensive tackle T.J. Slaton) don\u2019t exactly scream Super Bowl pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bengals have no doubt succeeded in making wide receivers a little more expensive for the rest of the NFL. While that part was inevitable, it\u2019s not like this team had to be the test case for trying to pay the most expensive wide receiver duo in NFL history and still field a competitive roster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the Bengals were late paying their guys, the cost went up. These record-setting contracts aren\u2019t a cause for celebration. They demand a pause for consideration that teams are investing too much money in too few players and it\u2019s unlikely going to end well for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n