CINCINNATI — Joe Burrow says the Cincinnati Bengals championship window should stay open for years.
“The window is my whole career,” the franchise quarterback said soberly after the Bengals clinched their second straight AFC North title.
His confidence is understandable given the offensive weapons available: Receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have rushed for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons, making them the first pair of Bengals wideouts since Chad Johnson and TJ Houshmandzadeh in 2006 and 2007.
Though both have been limited by injuries this season, they’ve caught 18 touchdown passes combined and will see when Cincinnati plays Sunday’s AFC championship game in Kansas City for the second year in a row.
However, the economy can determine the future of star receivers.
Team owner Mike Brown admitted ahead of the season that finances had already been restructured in order to be able to sign Burrow, the top overall pick in the 2020 draft, to an extension that will keep him in Cincinnati for years to come. Based on the contracts of other top quarterbacks, Burrow’s deal could put him in the region of $40 million to $50 million per season.
With prime years for Chase and Higgins, the notoriously thrifty Bengals could face some tough decisions.
Drafted fifth overall in 2021, 22-year-old Chase — Burrow’s teammate at LSU during their 2019 national championship year — made a splash by piling up 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns to lead the Bengals to the Super Bowl and is the offensive rookie win of the year.
“He’s one of the best,” Burrow said this week. “Anyone who looks at the tape can see it. You can double it, you can muddy it, you can have a guy follow it – he’ll get his. You just have to touch him because he’s so dynamic with the ball in his hands.”
The offensive coordinator said Brian Callahan said Chase’s development in his sophomore season allowed the Bengals to use him in a variety of places to keep the defense guessing. Chase ran out of the backfield at times in beating Buffalo in last week’s divisional round.
“Our job is to move him enough that they can’t pinpoint where he’s going to be,” Callahan said. “We’ll see what that looks like next Sunday. We’ve done a good job of keeping him from being double-used as much as teams want to double-use him. They will have their work cut out for him to do that.”
Higgins, 23, is in his third season without Clemson. He led Cincinnati with 908 yards when he and Burrow were rookies in 2020.
“I just feel like the older we get, the more we know, the more we learn about the game, the more we learn about defense,” Higgins said. “Then we got the vet with[Tyler Boyd]to teach me and Ja’Marr all the little things and I feel like that helps us tremendously.”
Like Burrow, Higgins has a four-year entry-level deal and will soon be eligible for an extension. Chase is in its second year of a similar rookie deal.
But that’s down the road. Nobody is looking beyond Sunday at the moment.
“It’s going to be difficult, but I believe in the guys we have in our room,” Higgins said. “And I believe in the man who directs the offense – Joe, who puts the ball in the right places.”
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