Since star quarterback Joe Burrow‘s sophomore season in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals have been preseason contenders each year – including, of course, a Super Bowl run in 2022.

Although Burrow receives the most attention, other players have been fundamental in elevating a Bengals squad that too often has had offensive-line and defensive deficiencies. A Bengals squad, notably, that is backed up by a stingy pocketbook; they have the least amount of money earmarked for non-quarterback players in the entire league.

Now, following a disappointing season where Cincinnati barely missed the playoffs despite a late-season revival, three important players are in need of a deal.

Ja’Marr Chase, who claimed the triple crown after leading the NFL in receptions, yards and touchdowns in the 2024 season, was the Bengals’ first-round pick in 2021. He’ll likely receive the richest deal ever for a wide receiver – possibly by a wide margin. Chase’s signing is not an if but a when.

More controversially, wide receiver Tee Higgins is up for a new deal for the second time in two years after the Bengals franchise tagged him last year. Higgins will hit free agency on March 12.

The Bengals are reportedly looking to sign Higgins long-term, which may be difficult with the batch of deals they’re tasked with constructing this year. Sources say they’re likely to opt for a second franchise tag if the sides aren’t able to reach a deal by March 4, the tag deadline, which would allow an additional four months to work on one. If a deal isn’t signed by July 12, Higgins would play on a salary of $26.17 million in 2025.

Finally, despite the failures of the Cincinnati defense this past season, there was one significant bright spot that nevertheless flew under the radar. His name is Trey Hendrickson, and he was named first-team All-Pro at defensive end for the 2024 season, recording a league-high 17.5 sacks and concluding as the runner-up Defensive Player of the Year.

Hendrickson has played out a four-year, $60 million contract with the Bengals that started in 2021, but the team is reportedly anxious to keep him as the cornerstone of their defense.

Burrow, meanwhile, has been clear on his wish to keep his teammates, up to and including restructuring his own contract.

“You could convert some of the money to a signing bonus, which will lower the cap hit,” Burrow said. “You can push some of the money to the back end of the contract. That lowers the cap hit. And then when you get to the back end of the contract, you can restructure it and convert it to a signing bonus. You can also just take less money.”

Burrow signed his own extension last offseason, at a whopping five years and $275 million. It’s no surprise the Bengals are looking to win with him – and soon.

After sitting out of off-season programs, Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins signed his franchise tender, which guarantees $21 million from the franchise tag as Higgins stays in Cincinnati for another season.

Higgins missed all of the mandatory minicamp with hopes of a new deal. He did not want to receive the franchise tag, but he and the Bengals are clearly far apart with a long-term extension. Higgins requested a trade a couple of months ago, as he hoped that another team would offer him the long-term offer, but no deal ever transpired or appeared close.

The deal expects Higgins to be in black and orange when training camp comes around, although he would be fined if he did not participate.

Cincinnati is beginning to feel the cap crunch after signing QB Joe Burrow to a five-year $275 million deal at the beginning of last season. The team moved off of RB Joe Mixon this offseason as they traded him to an in-conference rival, the Houston Texans. Along with the new deal for their star quarterback, Jamar Chase will look for an extension soon. His deal should mirror similar to what Minnesota Vikings WR Justin Jefferson just made with a record-breaking four-year $140 million contract. With those contracts at the top of GM’s Duke Tobin‘s mind, Higgins has felt frustrated with the lack of extension talk in the last couple of years.

Higgins has been a mainstay in the Bengals’ reinsurance since being drafted to Cincinnati in the second round of the 2020 draft. However, he struggled last season, playing in just 12 games while dealing with a hamstring injury. His health concerns and Burrow’s season-ending injury caused the WR to have the lowest yard total of his career, 656, and the fewest receptions.

With the departure of #3 WR Tyler Boyd and a new contract on his mind, Higgins hopes to prove his worth in the upcoming season.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor confirmed Thursday that star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will not play against the Steelers in Week 16. Chase exited a game against the Vikings last weekend with a shoulder injury.

Instead of giving Chase more time to try and recover ahead of the game Sunday, Taylor made the early call, simply saying that he was not trending in the right direction. Taylor did not provide a firm timetable for Chase’s return but indicated that he could be ready in Week 17.

“We’ve got significant length before the next game from where are today,” Taylor said. “So we’ll just continue to go from there.”

In Chase’s absence, wide receiver Tee Higgins is expected to receive more looks from quarterback Jake Browning. The team will also presumably lean on their running game, led by Joe Mixon with Chase Brown coming in for support. Higgins told reporters Thursday that he was prepared to step up as the team hunts for a playoff berth.

“I still gotta go out there and be the receiver I am,” Higgins said.

The Bengals have had to deal with a number of key injuries this year, chiefly a season-ending setback for Joe Burrow. But while the team has been banged up all year, Cincinnati still has an 8-6 record and could make the postseason with a strong finish.

Browning has performed well in Burrow’s stead and led the team to wins over the Jaguars, Colts and Vikings. The next few games could be similarly challenging, however, as he will have to maintain this hot streak against the Steelers, Chiefs and Browns.

The two NFC North rivals always have the potential to cause problems while the Bengals’ recent history against the Chiefs (with Burrow under center) are well documented. The team is almost certain to benefit from Chase’s potential return by season’s end.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is reportedly in critical condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center after collapsing on the field during the team’s Monday Night Football game against the Bengals. Play did not resume after the incident and the game was later postponed.

Hamlin collapsed after a play in the first quarter, when the safety brought down Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, who was running at full speed and appeared to hit him in the chest and head. Hamlin got up and took a few steps before going limp and falling back to the ground.

Medical personnel on the sidelines reached Hamlin seconds after he fell and administered CPR for at least eight minutes. Players from both teams lingered on the field after the play and many Bills players formed a tight circle around their teammate, barring cameras from capturing medical staff tending to Hamlin on the ground. Players on both sides were visibly shaken and some dropped to their knees in prayer.

An ambulance eventually came on to the field to retrieve Hamlin, and despite an initial agreement to resume play after a warmup, coaches and players agreed to temporarily suspend play. The NFL formally suspended the game more than an hour later.

Hamlin was taken to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, a Level 1 trauma center. Initial reports indicated that he was unable to breathe on his own, and a source close to him later reported that hospital staff “put him to sleep” in order to insert a breathing tube. He has been listed as being in “critical condition.”

Hospital staff have indicated to reporters that they do not intend on providing any further updates for the time being. Hamlin is 24 and was drafted by the Bills in 2021 after five seasons at the University of Pittsburgh. His mother was present at the game and traveled with him to the hospital.

The Cincinnati Bengals will be looking to continue their ongoing rebuild as they prepare for the 2021 regular season. It certainly helps now that the team knows they have a stud as their franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow. Burrow will return to the team after a knee injury ended his rookie season. Burrow showed flashes of promise for the team before his injury and was on pace to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of The Year award. The team will be looking to focus on finding the right style and team chemistry heading into a Week 1 matchup with the Vikings.

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Cincinnati Bengals Schedule:

• Week 1: Sun 09/12 vs Minnesota Vikings
• Week 2: Sun 09/19 at Chicago Bears
• Week 3: Sun 09/26 at Pittsburgh Steelers
• Week 4: Thu 09/30 vs Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 5: Sun 10/10 vs Green Bay Packers
• Week 6: Sun 10/17 at Detroit Lions
• Week 7: Sun 10/24 at Baltimore Ravens
• Week 8: Sun 10/31 at New York Jets
• Week 9: Sun 11/07 vs Cleveland Browns
• Week 10: BYE
• Week 11: Sun 11/21 at Las Vegas Raiders
• Week 12: Sun 11/28 vs Pittsburgh Steelers
• Week 13: Sun 12/05 vs Los Angeles Chargers
• Week 14: Sun 12/12 vs San Francisco 49ers
• Week 15: Sun 12/19 at Denver Broncos
• Week 16: Sun 12/26 vs Baltimore Ravens
• Week 17: Sun 01/02 vs Kansas City Chiefs
• Week 18: Sun 01/09 vs Cleveland Browns

AFC North: The Bengals will most likely experience another losing season in the competitive AFC North division. The other three teams in the division all made the playoffs last season and they all finished with at least 10 wins. The Bengals were only able to achieve one win in their six divisional games. Don’t expect much to change in that department in 2021.

Matchups: The Bengals’ schedule is more difficult than the average schedule, partially because they have to face the Steelers, Ravens and Browns two times each. The Bengals also have difficult matchups with the Packers, Chiefs and Vikings. Cincinnati doesn’t have a great chance against any of those teams. Even the games against the mid-tier teams will pose a challenge to a very young Bengals squad.

Overall: There won’t be much improvement for the Bengals in the 2021 NFL regular season. The team does not have the depth or roster to actively compete for a playoff spot next season. Cincinnati did improve their offense by drafting stud wideout Ja’Marr Chase with the fifth pick of the draft, plus the team improved the offensive line that will be protecting Burrow by selecting guard Jackson Carman in the second round. The Bengals should have a revamped offense despite losing veteran wide receiver A.J. Green in free agency. The Bengals have an up-and-coming quarterback in Burrow, a talented running back in Joe Mixon and a talented group of young receivers in Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins. All that said, the Bengals have one of the worst defenses in the entire NFL. The improved offensive won’t be enough to overcome the organization’s atrocious defense.

Prediction: Last season, the Bengals finished with a record of 4-11-1. Based on last year’s results, this year’s regular-season schedule and the franchise’s offseason moves, Cincinnati will likely finish 6-11. Until the Bengals can compete with the Steelers, Ravens and Browns, it’s hard to imagine this franchise getting back to the playoffs.

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2021 Team Schedule Breakdowns

• Buffalo Bills
• New England Patriots
• New York Jets
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Pittsburgh Steelers

Apparently, a No. one ranking versus No. 87 ranking means quite a lot — Clemson showed why they are the AP’s preseason best as they routed Georgia Tech 52-14 on Thursday night.

Clemson star running back Travis Etienne ran for 204 yards, 90 of which came with just under six minutes left in the first quarter. Etienne found a hole on the left side, went right through a couple of defenders and down the sideline for a touchdown. Georgia Tech faded in the distance from that point forward.

Georgia Tech could have swayed the momentum their way in the middle of the second quarter, as they were behind 21-0, after they intercepted Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence by midfield, thus getting pushed out at Clemson’s three-yard line. After that, a nifty drop and run out of the pocket to the right seemed like a potential touchdown. However, Georgia Tech’s quarterback threw for an interception in the end zone.

On the very next play, Lawrence hit wide receiver Tee Higgins on a deep ball close to the middle for a 62-yard touchdown.

IN MEMORIAM: SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2019 TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

After the game, Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins complemented Clemson and applauded his young team comprised of mostly freshmen.

“They did a great job tonight. Twenty-one point swing early. We had chances. We had 4th-and-1. We didn’t convert. We got down on the goal line, didn’t convert. Turnovers early hurt us. I think the story of the game was big plays. I thought we tackled well. I thought our guys ran to the ball,” said Collins.

He continued: “There were 22 freshmen who played in the game, 11 true freshmen who played in the game and we only have 11 seniors. I’m really proud of their contribution.”

“We’re just going to continue to get better,” he added. “I’m just proud of the way they fought and of the way they stuck together. Injuries piled up on special teams, but the guys kept rolling in, trying to give their all for each other.”