The Cincinnati Bengals suffered through a lost season in 2023, mostly due to a strained calf and wrist injury that severely limited star quarterback Joe Burrow.

Suddenly, they have gone from a prime Super Bowl contender to a team that has a murky future, as its top two wide receivers are nearing free agency.

Tee Higgins, their WR2, will hit the free-agent market in March, but per Tony Pauline via JPAFootball, the Bengals are working with him on a long-term contract extension.

𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗦: The #Bengals want Tee Higgins for more than just next season and are working on a long-term contract extension, per @TonyPauline

“Sources close to the Bengals tell me the team is trying to negotiate a contract extension with Higgins to lock him up for the next… pic.twitter.com/uuSV7Qk2xc

— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) February 23, 2024

Higgins was limited to 12 games in 2023 due to rib and hamstring injuries, but he still managed to catch 42 passes for 656 yards and five touchdowns.

The year before, he was at 1,029 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

He and Ja’Marr Chase have teamed up to give Cincinnati not only one of the NFL’s best wide receiver tandems but also one of its most potent passing offenses in recent years.

But Cincinnati will have to pay up to get that going.

What complicates their efforts to keep Higgins is the fact that Chase is set to become a free agent not too long from now, although they’re expected to exercise his fifth-year option for 2025.

But if they manage to keep both men in the fold, they could contend for years to come, as long as they’re healthy.

They reached the Super Bowl just two years ago, only to lose narrowly to the Los Angeles Rams, and the franchise got there twice in the 1980s, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers both times by five points or less.

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