The Cincinnati Bengals have had a very noteworthy offseason. After missing the playoffs for the second straight year, the Bengals surprisingly signed wide receiver Tee Higgins to a long-term extension, and eventually reached an agreement to give Trey Hendrickson a raise for 2025.
It's the former that is the topic of conversation on Monday, though, as Higgins was placed on the most overpaid players list by Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report.
"It's understandable the Bengals wanted to keep the band together this offseason, but they reached with this new deal for the good-not-great, often-unreliable Higgins," Gagnon writes. "The 26-year-old's production hasn't matched that of most top-12-paid receivers. He has yet to reach 80 catches, 1,100 yards, or 10-plus touchdowns in a season. Durability is also a concern—he's missed multiple games each of the last two years. However, the Bengals are realistically locked in for at least $58 million over the course of the next couple of seasons. It looks like a major overpay, but if he helps this team finally capture a championship it won't matter."
Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase make up one of the most high-powered wide receiver duos in the NFL, but it's certainly Chase who is doing a good bit of the heavy lifting. The LSU product is coming off a triple crown win, leading the NFL in catches, yards, and touchdowns. That said, Higgins still had 73 catches and 10 touchdowns in 2024. If he were playing almost anywhere else, his numbers would be amongst the league leaders in the NFL.
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