Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL | Why Ja'Marr Chase & Tee Higgins wanted to stay together in Cincinnati

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jamar Chase and T. Higgins have explained why they wanted to remain teammates in Cincinnati. Let's talk about what they had to say as they met with the media fresh off of signing, huge, huge extensions. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Well, up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liskow. He's your host, James Rapine, and we are locked on. Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast. So if you're new to the show, you're not already in every day.

Starting point is 00:00:44 Or you can hit that subscribe button or follow wherever you get your podcast to make sure you don't miss an episode. And today's episode brought to you by Game Time where when you create an account and use promo code, Lockdown NFL, you'll save $20 on your first purchase of tickets. The deals are officially official for T. Higgins and for Jemar Chase. They have arrived in Cincinnati. They have signed their contracts. I do not know where they are at this exact moment, but that step is complete. The Cincinnati Bengals have locked up their receivers for the contracts that were agreed upon in recent days.

Starting point is 00:01:21 Huge, huge news to get it done. And it's a big moment, big moment in Bengals history. And as I'm recording here, I'm at Paycor Stadium. And look, this is, it's something I honestly. never thought I would see. I just didn't think that they would sign both Jamar and T up until three months ago, up until you find out about Joe and what Joe,

Starting point is 00:01:49 how Joe viewed it. And by the way, Joe views it. Like, I think a lot of smart people, smart football people view it. You're going to hear a lot of dumb football people say, oh, well, how can you pay these two receivers? And I get that. And the reason I say,

Starting point is 00:02:04 say it's dumb is because it's really easy to see why the Bengals would go this route. It's really easy to see why they would say, oh, 26-year-old T. Higgins, we will buy that stock for the next four seasons. We will obviously buy every bit of Jamar Chase. We've seen what he's done since entering the league. But T. Higgins has been awesome. And you want to keep those kind of players and for them to keep both of those guys, it's a huge, huge day for the Bengals, it's a huge day for T, huge day for Jemar.

Starting point is 00:02:37 And again, for the majority of T's tenure, I don't think that there were many realistic scenarios where this happened. And yet, Joe, Jamar, and T made it happen. And part of that is sacrifice on T's part. Part of that is selflessness on Joe and, in Jamar's part or the fact that Joe's just willing to be blunt and outspoken when it comes to T's status.

Starting point is 00:03:06 But Jamar being really unselfish during this process and T sacrificing not necessarily money because he never got to the free agent market so we don't know exactly what he would have taken, but sacrificing all of the headache and drama, squashing that being mature about this process and realizing that he wanted to be in Cincinnati. So it took a lot to get here. And well, Bengals fans, the Bengals are here. Yeah, it was very well orchestrated. You got to give the players credit here for getting what they wanted done with a front

Starting point is 00:03:41 office that we've talked about on repeat over the last five years and longer, but on this show for five years because that's about how long we've been doing this show together for how stubborn they are and how they don't move off in numbers and how they don't outbreak precedent and how they don't guarantee year two of contracts and how that's going to be such a big issue for contract negotiations. And then there are reportedly guarantees into year four for Jamar Chase, which certainly suggests a structure similar to Justin Jefferson in terms of option bonuses. And we've talked about that on the show.

Starting point is 00:04:14 It should help the Bengals to push some of those cap hits off for Jamar Chase into the future. Remains to be seen what it will look like for T. Higgins. I don't expect it will look identical, but smaller. I don't think that that is what we should expect when we look at T. Higgins' contract versus Jamar Chase's contract. I think there will probably be some structural differences, but it is a masterful job from Burrow Chase Higgins in terms of playing to their outs to stay together and get contracts that are at least fair.

Starting point is 00:04:46 In Jamar's Chase, he's a top paid non-quarterback in the NFL, so more than fair there, right? Like that's exactly what he wanted and he got. what he wanted and deserved. And for T, he gets a deal that you mentioned maybe he didn't sacrifice money, but if he had forced his way to free agency one way or another, i.e. retaining David Mulligeta as his agent, he would have gotten more money. So he gives up an opportunity to go be a potential number one elsewhere, to earn more money, although we haven't seen the contracts.

Starting point is 00:05:17 We don't know exactly what the incentives look like and everything yet. But it said that with incentives, it gets up to 30 million. So I think it's reasonable to say that T left money on the table, that T left an opportunity to be in the spotlight as the marquee weapon for another team instead of the 1A to Chase's 1 in Cincinnati on the table. And so I just really commend T for a number of sacrifices here that he's made and endured really in terms of having to deal with the uncertainty in two franchise tags and not expecting that this would really come. for a long time in Cincinnati and then getting to that point through some nice use of leverage and nice use switching agents to get what he really wanted, which was to continue to play for the team that he reminded us on Tuesday he grew up rooting for. How many 26-year-olds would do this in their line of work?

Starting point is 00:06:13 Fire their representation. And that's a harsh word, but he moved on from David Mulligate. And I asked him about it. I was like, how much of. staying here, getting to this moment, went into changing agents. And he said a lot, of course. Now, he didn't elaborate too much. But that's one thing with tea. And I think back and you read the the tea leaves, and I'll keep using the pun intended there, because I feel like we've done that a lot over the past few months. But I go back to a few years ago and he said, oh, well, David

Starting point is 00:06:46 works for me. It's not the other way around. And during this process, I think when he saw, the door open to staying in Cincinnati. And it, it was like, okay, well, how do I do it? And by the way, it worked that he still got guarantees in year two. It's not like he didn't get, yeah, they didn't break precedent for him. It's not like he's sacrificing a ton to your point. I agree with you. I think he would have gotten 35 million per year from the Patriots. Like, I think that that's pretty realistic because of the number of teams that would have been in on him. And so instead of that, and having to go that route and go to free agency, he said, nope, I don't want to do that.

Starting point is 00:07:29 I want to figure this out. And so he moves on from David. He goes to Rocky in December. Joe makes those comments knowing the move. And one step goes to the next step, to the next step, to the next step, and suddenly in mid-March, this isn't June. It's not July. We're not past OTAs.

Starting point is 00:07:48 So for all parties to come together and get this done now, that is significant. regardless of what you think about free agency and what they've done or they haven't done. That's certainly significant, no doubt. And we got to the joint press conference, which was like fan fiction stuff for a little bit. And then turned into, oh, actually, we're going to meet up when we've agreed to this. And we're going to put it out to the internet together. And then we're going to fly to Cincinnati together. Then we're going to sign our contracts one after the other.

Starting point is 00:08:16 Got to get the photo op. Can't do that side by side apparently. I mean, they could have. That would have been pretty cool. But they didn't. And then they got to do the press conference together. And I think doing the press conference together was actually an interesting choice. Not the choice is interesting, but at least to an interesting conversation when those guys are sitting next to each other because of the way they talk about each other,

Starting point is 00:08:40 the relationship between Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and how close those guys are and what they mean to each other on the field as well. And that's a big part of Jamar's answer when he was talking. about why he wanted to make sure T. Higgins was back in the fold because he was asked about the ultimatum that was reported like, hey, you can't get me without T. And so let's dive into some of those answers, some of the other details that we got from this press conferences. We continued the conversation and a bit of a celebration coming up next. Imagine watching your favorite team live, feeling the energy of the crowd and witnessing unforgettable moments. There's nothing like experiencing a big game in person. And getting tickets

Starting point is 00:09:21 shouldn't be stressful. That's where game time comes in, making it easier than ever to grab last minute tickets at unbeatable prices. They have game time picks. And what game time picks does is it makes it easier to find better value for tickets to sports, concerts, comedy, theater. Maybe you're headed up the date and to watch Xavier tomorrow night or tonight, depending Wednesday night. Well, game time is going to give you the peace of mind with seat views before you buy. No Surprise Feast and a lowest price guarantee. You can book with Total confidence with game time. Take the guest work out of buying tickets with game time.

Starting point is 00:09:55 Download the game time app. Create an account. News code locked on NFL for $20 off your first purchase. That's L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-FLocked on NFL for $20 off. Download game time today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. One of the more interesting moments to me, James, during this press conference was there was some question asked about keeping Joe, Jamar, and T together

Starting point is 00:10:19 and it making Joe's life easier. and Jamar spoke up and said that it's not just for Joe, it's for me. It makes my life easier. I wanted to keep tea here because of the impact that has for Jamar Chase on the football field. And as a product of that, the entire offense when you have both Jamar Chase and T. Higgins on the field. Yeah, I think that's why I said dumb football people. Because I just, I think that smart football people understand why it makes sense. And you had great co-sell of NFL films.

Starting point is 00:11:01 I saw a clip of him. And I don't know what podcast it was on. So forgive me there. But a clip of him talking about how important a second wide receiver is in today's NFL. And I get at the, the joke is all James loves wide receivers, all of those things. And that's fine. And it's mostly true. But there is valuable.

Starting point is 00:11:19 It's entirely true. Come on. But, but. but they're the most valuable they've ever been in the history of the sport. Like that part is also true. And so when you roll out two guys and you get off the bus where you have the most accurate quarterback in the NFL, and arguably the best quarterback in the NFL, who I would say is the best receiver in the NFL, he's more complete than anyone else.

Starting point is 00:11:43 And then a guy in T. Higgins, who would have been a number one on at least 10 teams that were trying to pay him in free agency, He could have been more. That's just, that's really scary. That's a lot to deal with. And it makes, they make each other's lives easier. Of course they want to be together. And it's easy to see the path to them being in contention year in and year out. And I think that's the other element here.

Starting point is 00:12:05 I don't think that this was a, oh yeah, he makes my life easier because I don't face as many double teams and I can get single coverage and put up stats. I think they understand from a football standpoint, they can be more successful as a team together. And when one is out, I'll go back to the Pittsburgh game. It got really ugly when T. Higgins got nicked up and was out. That offense dropped. That's the last time we saw the Bengals on the field and they found a way to win. Defense finished the game there. A lot of people would probably forget that. So this offense, it's a huge part obviously of what they do. T. Higgins is a huge part of that. And I'm glad that Jemar spoke up about the 1A part of it to the 1A element

Starting point is 00:12:41 when it was like, oh, well, you're the highest paid number two. And I forget who asked that. And before T could answer, who he clearly didn't want to be referred to that way anyway. But Jamar said, no, 1A. And I get it because Joe views it that way, the Bengals view it that way, and that's why T. got paid the way he did. Underlining the importance for T. Higgins to the offense, obviously, right? And that was Greg Kassell on the Ross Tucker podcast, talking about how in modern NFL defensive structures with all the too high stuff you have,

Starting point is 00:13:15 just naturally. It's much easier to cloud a receiver to double a receiver when that's the only threat in the passing game. And so when you have that second guy, it really forces defenses to make a choice and opens up that much more for you offensively. And Mina Kimes, who we've had on the show before, and I know that Bengals fans have varying opinions of Mina Kimes, but she also pointed out that for the like, the type of offense that Joe Burrow likes to play where he wants to. get multiple receivers out on the field, figure out where the mismatch is, figure out where the vulnerability in the coverage is, and then get the ball to a receiver,

Starting point is 00:13:54 having more dynamic playmakers who can do things to reward him for getting them the ball on time in a weakness of the defense, it makes more sense for that kind of offense than, say, uh, uh,

Starting point is 00:14:09 San Francisco offense or a Detroit offense where you're, you're doing so much schematically and funneling throws to a specific point. And your coach is, and your quarterback is kind of an extension of like doing exactly what the play is prescribed to be. The Bengals don't go like that on offense. The play doesn't tell the quarterback where the ball is going to go. The play tells the quarterback what the options are.

Starting point is 00:14:34 The quarterback figures out where the ball is going to go. And so when you have those kinds of receivers of 1-1A that can be reliable in those situations, it can do more with the ball on their hands, that can threaten defenses more diversely and can beat one-on-one coverage so consistently that that makes more sense for the style of offensive Bengals are running that is asking, okay, we're going to put some concepts out there because our quarterback is a superhuman in terms of his processing ability. And if you can reward that, we're going to be a very productive offense.

Starting point is 00:15:08 And we saw a lot of that last year, right? That's the way they ran the offense. They introduced the 12 personnel stuff a little bit, but it was still Joe Burroughs offense doing Joe Burrow things. Yeah, for sure. And that's it. Like how easy, how hard would it be to find the next T? Are you going to just completely revamp your offense? Everyone's talking about how great the offense is.

Starting point is 00:15:30 It isn't great without T. It's just it might be solid. It might be good, but it would have to evolve. It would have to change a ton. And that's why the quickest way to them getting back in championship contention, included T. Higgins, just did. Now, does that mean they need to do other stuff? I think we both agree. And everyone that's listening and watching every day knows how we feel about that. But this was something that they had to get done. And just because it's X amount of dollars or X amount of cap space,

Starting point is 00:16:00 and we still don't know exactly what that's going to look like, don't buy the, oh my goodness, the Bengals aren't going to be able to have function. They were always going to have to draft well. They were always going, regardless, if they don't pay $2,000, you know, guess what? They're still going to have to be great in the draft. And they were going to have to replace a guy that I'm not sure exists in this year's draft. Speaking of the wide receivers, like I just, I don't know if they're there. So I think that this celebrated. And the other thing that I thought, one of the other takeaways I have from the press conference, Jake,

Starting point is 00:16:28 is just how quiet Jamar was. Jamar didn't say a lot. And I think it was very, yep, I expected this to get done, hasn't fully set in. I think he's going to go celebrate. I think they both are. You mentioned you're not sure where they're at. I think I do know. I think they're headed to their airport.

Starting point is 00:16:46 They're getting on that private jet and going somewhere warm. So I don't think they're going to be in Cincinnati long, which is the ultimate boss move. You fly in on a private jet, sign a multi, you know, $100 plus million dollar contract, both of them. And then you fly out. That's got to be a feeling that you're only going to get once in your life probably. in their case, maybe twice, I guess. Maybe twice for that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Maybe. Maybe. They have a chance. But it's got to be a hell of a feeling. Got to be a hell of a feeling, right? No doubt. No doubt about that. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:17:23 I don't think there's any semblance of an argument about that. And congratulations to those guys. I did notice the disparity in who was talking the most. And I thought, that was an interesting bit. I think Jumar was probably thankful for someone else to be up there. He's used to meeting with you guys at this point. He's done it a little bit. T's obviously talked to you guys in the locker room throughout his career in Cincinnati, but T got to talk about the fish tank he wants to put in his wall.

Starting point is 00:17:58 He's never done the podium. That was his first time, you know, because he was drafted COVID year. So there was never a podium T. And so that had to feel. feel pretty cool for him. And Jemar got to talk about how he liked Cincinnati because his quarterback is in Cincinnati and because T is in Cincinnati and had some things to say about the food that we don't need to get into here, the referencing that he's from New Orleans. I thought it was really funny. Talked about how he liked Cincinnati because he can say focus on the football. I thought it

Starting point is 00:18:32 was hilarious. I love Jumar's sense of humor in the way that he's just like that and very often. Food in New Orleans is awesome. So it is going to be a step down. Like, Anywhere he went outside of a few cities would have been a step down food-wise from New Orleans. And by the way, those few cities would have came with major distractions. So it worked out well. I just think it's funny. I personally got a kick out of the Jamar quotes. Let's wrap up here, James, with T and Jamar Chase, officially official.

Starting point is 00:19:02 James still recording from Paycor Stadium coming up next. The NCAA tournament is here, and so is the bracket breakdown. Lockdown, Lockdown Podcast Network, and Amazon Fire TV channels. We're teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Lockdown's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channel. Search Brackett Breakdown to see it all for free. It's your team every day.

Starting point is 00:19:34 For those wondering, I've relocated. Now I'm in the parking lot at Paycor Stadium. So if you hear a little win, that's why. Or beeping because gates are opening and closing. Because there's big business going on here at Paycor Stadium. Honestly, I was really excited or at least laughed at. I don't know if I was excited. But I was curious to see what the quotes would read from Mike Brown from Zach Taylor.

Starting point is 00:20:03 Obviously, Zach Taylor made a statement at the jump. But Duke Tobin and his statement was just awesome, Jake. He said, quote, The Bengals have a long history of drafting and retaining elite wide receivers, and we're happy to continue that tradition with Jamar and T. We are known for our explosive high-scoring offense, and Jamar and T are a big part of that identity. They earn these extensions with their abilities and promise for the future. And here's the elite, just drop the mic moment. We have our receivers.

Starting point is 00:20:31 The rest of the league can go find their own, which is a callback, obviously, to if you want a receiver, go find your own the NFL combine two years ago with the team. Higgins train rumors. So yeah, the Bengals keeping their receivers and Duke Tobin says, go find your own. Yeah, the bit of redemption here for Duke Tobin after the Combine comments, although there's still work to be done to make good on everything he said at the Combine, but he gets to circle back to the Go Find Your Own. And that's a bit of a moment for Duke Tobin, good for him. And he's right. The Bengals do have a good tradition of retaining elite wide receivers, largely doing a good job of keeping their guys at the top of the market. And this is just another example.

Starting point is 00:21:14 I also like Mike Brown pointing out that with Joe Burrow T. Higgins and Jamar Chase, quote, we have a very potent offense. That gives us a foundation to win games going on to say the obvious. It's hard to cover both of them. And that's what we're talking about when we're talking about the way this team is built. And Mike Brown tacitly acknowledging all of the criticisms out there, now, whether he's heard them directly or just imagines them because he understands he's been in this business for a long time, that it is unusual to pay two receivers, your second and third

Starting point is 00:21:45 biggest contracts on the football team. Maybe your biggest contract, maybe your second biggest contract. Sure, they've done that in the past, AJ Green, and they've had high paid wide receivers throughout their history since Mike Brown took over. But I think there is an acknowledgement here that we're doing this a little bit differently. We're giving ourselves a crazy set of offensive firepower and weapons. And that's going to be the foundation of our football team. We're going to have to build around those guys. And so where people are arguing about the Bengals team building approach here,

Starting point is 00:22:18 this is what they're saying instead is like, okay, we're going to have this set of guys on offense. That is who we're built through. That's what we've been saying for the last few days here, is they have an elite offense with these guys. They need to figure out guard. But they had an elite offense just last year with T. Higgins, Jamar Chase, and even Micah Secki leading the way here.

Starting point is 00:22:40 And keeping that foundation in place and needing to hit in the draft to improve around them is where the Bengals are now with a little bit of work left to do and free agency. So an interesting set of quotes there between Mike Brown and Duke Tobin, I thought. Yeah, a lot of work. A lot of work. Since I'm here and I've said it all week, a lot of work needs to be done in the building behind me. There we go. There we go.

Starting point is 00:23:04 We could kind of see the building. There we go. building behind me. I was trying to get the Paycourt logo and it just took way too long for me to get it in frame for those listening and not able to see here on YouTube. I apologize for the wind in advance. But the good news is, is I think there are good players that they could add. One is still on their roster, T. Hendrickson. They were asked about T. Higgins did most of the talking here. Jamar gave it a yes, I agree, but they were going to see Tray back. Makes sense. I think they know that the defense needs to be better.

Starting point is 00:23:37 It goes without saying. I think the whole world knows it. That, again, doesn't mean that you don't keep your best players on offense because your defense needs help. But, yeah, getting something done with Trey, certainly. I would say needs to be the focus. We talked a lot about it yesterday for those wondering. I'm just not sure that it's going to come together quick.

Starting point is 00:23:57 It could. Not sure it will. It always can. It just takes the right numbers, getting to the right people, getting onto the right piece of paper and then it can come together just like that. We'll see what happens there. It does seem

Starting point is 00:24:12 like there's a lot of smoke from national reporters, multiple national reporters, that that is the Bengals. Next point of emphasis is trying to figure it out with Trey Henderson, trying to get back to the table with Trey Hendrickson. And in addition to that, we will continue to be a

Starting point is 00:24:29 broken record on this. There are a couple of external moves. We would like to see them make. We won't list all the players. again. But nothing has changed, as far as I know, about the players that we talked about in the last two days, James, on this show in this segment, in this part of the show, that our players still out there that could improve the team. So we'll see what happens. There will continue to have you covered, of course, here on Lockdown Bengals as more news develops here late now in week two of the free agency period. Until then, thanks for listening to this episode of the Lockdown Bengals

Starting point is 00:25:01 podcast, Ho-Day, and have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL | Why Ja'Marr Chase & Tee Higgins wanted to stay together in Cincinnati

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.