I cannot emphasize enough the salary cap struggles that the Cincinnati Bengals will be facing over the next five seasons. On a positive note, Cincinnati found arguably the best player in the NFL when they selected Joe Burrow with the first overall pick in 2019. Unfortunately, his new five year contract totaling $275 million will put the team in a major hole that they will lead to a struggle to retain talent.
Last year was just the first taste when the team let their superstar free safety Jessie Bates III leave for Atlanta on a four year deal worth $64 million. Unfortunately, Cincinnati may be hemorrhaging talent this offseason to try to keep a disciplined approach to the salary cap.
Bengals Wide Receiver Laments the Decline of His Position Group in 2024
On top of Burrow’s monster contract, another major blow to the salary cap is the impending extension for three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Chase will likely be signing a four year contract totaling in the area of $120-130 million to stay in Cincinnati and the team will need to find the money in their budget for him.
Unfortunately, that means the other two members of Cincinnati’s elite wide receiver trio will likely be hitting the free agent market this offseason. Both Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd should be expending contracts averaging $25 million and $18 million per season respectively and there is simply no way that Cincinnati could make that happen. If the team did try to swing it, just those four players would account for well over half of the total salary cap for the next five seasons and the quality and depth on the rest of the roster would plummet.
The upsetting reality is that both Higgins and Boyd will both be leaving Cincinnati this offseason and Chase will be far more responsible for keeping Cincinnati’s passing game above water. Cincinnati essentially announced the decision in the NFL Draft when they drafted replacement players Andrei Iosivas and Charlie Jones in the later rounds of the Draft. While obviously not being as prestigious as Cincinnati’s current receiving corps, Iosivas and Jones have similar skillsets to Higgins and Boyd.
