AFC North rival just made Bengals exec Duke Tobin really regret his choice of words earlier in the 2025 NFL offseason
Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin made it clear that All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is going to get paid more than any non-quarterback in NFL history."Ja'Marr is always going to be our priority," Tobin said last month at the NFL Scouting Combine. "He's a fantastic football player. He's going to end up […]
Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin made it clear that All-Pro wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is going to get paid more than any non-quarterback in NFL history.
"Ja'Marr is always going to be our priority," Tobin said last month at the NFL Scouting Combine. "He's a fantastic football player. He's going to end up being the number one paid non-quarterback in the league."
The price for that distinction just went up, by a lot.
Myles Garrett's surprising extension makes the Bengals' life even harder
When Tobin made that statement, the largest non-QB contract belonged to Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson at $35 million per year. That number was then topped by Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby, who signed a three-year deal worth $35.5 million per year.
Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett blew both of those deals out of the water with a four-year extension that will pay him $40 million per year in new money.
This is now the floor for negotiating Chase's deal.
$40MM per year was already in the cards as a possibility for Chase. The jump in the salary cap this year made it likely his new deal will be in that realm.
Cincinnati now has no choice but to get to $40.1MM per year at a minimum.
The Bengals have been operating in free agency for over 30 years. The world has changed dramatically in that time.
How the franchise views guaranteed money for its players has never changed, with Joe Burrow being the lone exception.
The Bengals were very close to extending Chase last offseason right before Week 1 arrived. The holdup involved when some guarantees in his deal would trigger. That deal was not worth $40 million per year or more.
The deal they'll have to offer now will be.
It's proven time and time again that the Bengals haggling over guaranteed money for their best players costs them more money in the long run, whether the price itself to keep said players goes up, or the cost to replace them over time adds up.
Even if, hypothetically, Chase's camp was waiting this offseason for the price to go up thanks to stars like Garrett netting new deals, all of this could've been avoided last year had the Bengals just got over the goal line.
It's entirely fair to question if the Bengals will be able to satisfy any of their star players this offseason, whether it's finally paying Chase, Tee Higgins, or trading away Trey Hendrickson. The more prices around them go up, the more challenging the Bengals' archaic business philosophy becomes to execute.
But Tobin said what he said. He can't take back those words now. It's a promise his club will have to deliver to secure Chase for the long run.
