The Bengals finally hammered out deals with their two cornerstone wide receivers, agreeing to four-year extensions with both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on Sunday night.
Cincinnati waited a long time to get deals done with Chase and Higgins, with Higgins’ extension coming after he was franchise tagged twice, and it cost them. Together, the two contracts cost $276 million, or $69 million annually.
With Joe Burrow already making $55 million annually and a potential extension for DE Trey Hendrickson now on the table, the Bengals’ salary cap situation is coming into focus for 2025 and beyond.
Here’s a look at where Cincinnati’s cap flexibility stands with Chase and Higgins locked in long-term.
NFL FREE AGENCY 2025: Live tracker | Grading every move | Top 75 available
Bengals cap space, explained
Bengals cap space 2025
The Bengals had just $13.8 million in salary cap room before extending Chase and Higgins on Sunday night. The good news for Cincinnati is that both extensions are actually set to lower each player’s cap hit for 2025, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz reported.
Higgins was set to count more than $26 million against the cap on the franchise tag, while Chase would have counted for $21 million, but the deals will be structured in a way that gives the Bengals a bit more flexibility for next season.
There are worse salary cap situations than Cincinnati’s, as the Bengals entered Sunday 20th in cap space and should rise up the ranks if the flexibility from the extensions move the needle.
MORE: NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterbacks
Bengals future cap space
The full breakdown of the Chase and Higgins contracts isn’t known at this point, but the bill is going to come due eventually. Together, they average $69 million in annual salary. If that was their collective cap hit in 2026, it would mean the Bengals had $117 million tied up between Burrow, Chase and Higgins. A Hendrickson extension could push that count closer to $150 million between four players.
Before Sunday’s extensions, the Bengals ranked sixth in the NFL with $166.9 million in cap space for 2025, per Spotrac. With an extra $69 million tacked on, Cincinnati would be bumped down to 22nd at $97.9 million available. A Hendrickson extension for $30 million per year, hypothetically, would bump the Bengals to $67.9 million, or 26th.
That still sounds like plenty of flexibility, but it can be deceiving. Players who will be free agents after 2025 either have to be re-signed or replaced in some form, and draft picks from both 2025 and 2026 will all be making money in 2026.
The Bengals aren’t yet doomed like the Saints have been for a number of years, but that’s partly because they don’t have too much money tied up in their defense. Cincinnati’s defense had an ugly year in 2024, and there simply won’t be as much flexibility to upgrade it in the years ahead aside from devoting draft picks to the unit.