The Cincinnati quarterback appeared on several shows to publicly urge the team to sign his wide receivers to new deals.
Joe Burrow is trying everything he can to keep the Cincinnati Bengals’ core players together.
Appearing on several media outlets Feb. 6, Burrow was repeatedly asked about the upcoming free agency of wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase, who is on the final year of his rookie deal. Burrow said he would be willing to do anything to keep his young core together, and publicly pressured the team to sign his wide receivers to new deals as soon as possible.
“We’ve had those preliminary discussions. It’s really early in the offseason, so those guys and their agents will start to have those discussions coming up,” Burrow said Thursday on NFL Network’s “
Super Bowl LIVE.“ ”But we’re confident that we’re going to be able to do what it takes. We all want to stay together, so we want to make it work.”
Burrow described Chase as a player who makes big-time plays every time he touches the field, and he praised Higgins for his positive impact on Chase. “When he’s on the field, he’s a game-changer for us, not only for our team, but for Ja'Marr,” Burrow said on
ESPN’s “First Take.“ ”Teams can’t just focus in on him and double him. ... They have to worry about Tee Higgins on the other side of the field.”
Cincinnati is facing the possibility that a large number of key contributors on offense could leave in free agency. According to
Spotrac, the Bengals’ 2025 free agents include: offensive tackle Trent Brown; tight end Mike Gesicki; offensive lineman Cody Ford; and running backs Trayveon Williams, Chris Evans, and Khalil Herbert. The defense could lose even more players, including defensive tackle B.J. Hill; pass rushers Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample; and defensive backs Mike Hilton, Marco Wilson, and Vonn Bell.
Besides the pending free agents, Chase and defensive end Trey Hendrickson are both seeking new deals; their contracts expire after the 2025 season. The two have done their part to earn it: Chase won the receiving triple crown this season, leading the league in receptions, yards, and touchdowns; and Hendrickson had 17.5 sacks in both 2023 and 2024, and led the league in sacks this year.
Burrow said on the “
Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams“ that the interest from the players is there. ”We have me, Ja'Marr, Tee, Trey, Mike G, we have guys that want to play together, and so we’re going to find a way to make that work,“ he said. ”I know our organization wants to make it happen too. Guys want to get paid what they’re worth, but at the same time I know how important it is to keep great players together, and so I’m going to do what it takes. I know they will too, and hopefully the organization does what it takes to keep everybody around.”
The four-year veteran, who signed a five-year, $275 million deal in 2023, said part of his responsibility as a quarterback is collaborating with the front office to help make the team better. Appearing on “
Breakfast Ball“ on Fox Sports 1, Burrow was asked if he would be willing to restructure some of his contract to make room to keep everybody in the fold. Burrow did not hesitate. ”Of course,” he said.
However, he did put the onus on the team. “The [NFL salary] cap is going up each year, we just got new TV deals, so the cap’s going to continue to go up,” Burrow told “First Take.” “We all want to stay together so we’re all going to do what it takes to do that, and we have great players that have done great things and deserve to be paid. They’re going to be paid what they’re worth, whether we do it or somebody else. I hope we do it.”
