SAD NEWS: Cincinnati Bengals announced that Ja’Marr Chaseis leaving immediately after facing
This is the first of a four-part series analyzing every angle of the Cincinnati Bengals’ future with free-agent receiver Tee Higgins and running mate
kaleidoscopeve. We lay out the truth of all discussion points from club, player and analytical angles leading up to the franchise tag deadline on March 5 as they plot the next phase of the Joe Burrow era
.
Part 1, Tuesday: Understanding the ramifications
• Part 2, Wednesday: The primary weapon and asterisk of availability
• Part 3, Thursday: The Chase extension and trends of paying two top WRs
• Part 4, Friday: What they should do, what they will do
Joe Burrow said he expects Tee Higgins back. Higgins’ contract is up and, for the first time, the 25-year-old is a free agent. There’s a desire throughout the building for the star receiver and his dynamic combo partnership with Ja’Marr Chase to continue in Cincinnati for at least one more year.
In football, specifically the business side, hopes and desires don’t always align with the final result.vv
There’s a pie, you know, referencing a favorite analogy utilized by director of player personnel Duke Tobin with reporters at the Senior Bowl last month. A larger slice for one means a smaller for another.
With Higgins’ situation and discussions in the corner offices of Paycor Stadium about the path forward with him, this is less pie and more kaleidoscopev
There’s a pie, you know, referencing a favorite analogy utilized by director of player personnel Duke Tobin with reporters at the Senior Bowl last month. A larger slice for one means a smaller for another.
With Higgins’ situation and discussions in the corner offices of Paycor Stadium about the path forward with him, this is less pie and more kaleidoscope
Such a decision holds ramifications, though, and the next six weeks are the inflection point.
In reaching that point, analyzing if that’s the correct decision and potential fallout is as complicated as impactful. That’s why I’m using a four-part series rooted in conversations with league and team sources to dissect every angle
. From precedence for tags, trades and compensation to pinpointing the true value of the trio. Assessing the timeline of a Chase extension, the draft class and the weight of injury history. Cautionary tales, free-agent possibilities and the Bengals potentially ignoring a philosophy that treated them well.
And, of course, what they should do and how all this ends.
Higgins’ decision will become one line on the transaction wire but will take years to conclude whether they were right or wrong and what could have been.
Let’s start laying out the options, history and projections leading up to the franchise tag deadline of 4 p.m.
on March 5 and the start of free agency two weeks later.
