INDIANAPOLIS — Duke Tobin agrees with his quarterback. The Cincinnati Bengals’ director of player personnel and de facto general manager echoed the comments Joe Burrow made during Super-Bowl week regarding the futures of the team’s best players – namely wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson – and that they should all be Bengals in the immediate and long-term future.
At least, that’s what Tobin said publicly Tuesday at the 2025 NFL scouting combine. But bringing everyone back at the dollars they deserve and adding to a team that missed the playoffs in 2024 won’t be a walk in the park.
“It’s a tall task,” Tobin said. “But we’re up to it.
“I want deals done. Just like our quarterback wants deals done. Everything he says, I agree with. I want them done. I want the best players available. And I also want to add players to our team. Again, I don’t want to just pay more money for the same team we had last year.”
Tobin declared that Chase will be the top-paid non-quarterback in the league once he and the Bengals can agree on a deal.
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“We’re there,” Tobin said. “Let’s get it done.”
Chase, the fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, played on the fourth year of his rookie deal last season, which paid him $6 million between his signing bonus proration and base salary. The team had picked up his club option for 2025 and that would deliver him $21.8 million in 2025 if there is no long-term deal done. Chase took out an insurance policy worth $50 million before last season to protect against injury.
“We’re not trying to insult anybody, particularly at the top of our football team,” Tobin said. “We have fantastic football players and we’re going to treat them as such.”
The reason for wanting to move Chase’s agreement along quickly is because it gives Tobin and the front office freedom to address other needs across the roster.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor repeated the ideology that Chase will be the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
“He deserved that,” Taylor said, noting that Chase came off winning the receiving Triple Crown by leading the league in catches (127), receiving yards (1,708) and touchdown receptions (17).
Regarding Higgins, the franchise tag is on the table, but a long-term deal is preferable to Tobin, and he’s optimistic that it can get done. In December, Higgins switched agents and is now represented by Alliance Sports’ Rocky Arceneaux, who also leads negotiations for Chase. Higgins made $21.8 million on the franchise tag last season and that number would rise to $26.2 million in 2025 if Cincinnati again applies the tag to him.
“He fits with us and we fit with him,” Tobin said of Higgins. “It’s a great match. So there’s no reason not to work hard to continue the relationship.”
As far as whether dealing with Arceneaux on both Higgins and Chase can benefit dual agreements, Tobin agreed that those contracts could be done on parallel paths.
Burrow spent the week before Super Bowl 59 making a series of media appearances, including with USA TODAY Sports, and putting public pressure on the front office and ownership to make sure the team brought back his favorite targets and improved the defense.
“I haven’t heard anything he said that I’m not in complete alignment on,” Tobin said.
Tobin added: “I talk to (Burrow) a lot. He’s an important member of our team and he’s an important partner in what we’re doing. I value his input. He’s earned that.”
Tobin admitted the defense wasn’t up to par last season in multiple aspects, whether the game was on the line or throughout a contest.
A bright spot, however, was Hendrickson, who led the league in sacks and recorded 17.5 for the second straight season. Since signing with the team in 2021, Hendrickson has made four Pro Bowl appearances and was a first-team All-Pro selection in 2024. He also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain.
Hendrickson initially signed a four-year, $60 million deal but agreed to a one-year extension through 2025 in 2023 that will pay him $16 million this upcoming season.
“He’s been a great signing for us … we would like to extend that, we would like to keep him not only happy but with us on a long-term basis,” Tobin said. “He’s under contract right now. We’re going to talk as the offseason goes and hopefully come to an agreement that everyone’s acceptable of. But are we there yet? We’re not there yet.”
