Bengals News: Tee Higgins franchise tag, Ja'Marr Chase's dad, and more

In Bengals news, Tee Higgins is due for an extension but the team could opt to wait on that and franchise tag him. Also, Ja'Marr Chase's dad gave a brutally honest interview.

Higgins is entering the final year of his rookie contract and that means the Cincinnati Bengals could opt to extend the former second-round pick. Higgins has had 900+ yards in all three seasons with the Bengals and would be a WR1 on most other teams. The Bengals have expressed interest in keeping him around but extending Joe Burrow is priority No. 1 (as it should be).

Speaking of Bengals receivers, Chase's father, Jimmy Chase, spoke with Dan Hoard on the Bengals Booth Podcast and admitted that he didn't want his son playing in Cincinnati.

Check out what's trending in Bengals news.

Nate Tice Makes Case For Franchise Tagging Tee Higgins: 'I Would Tag Him And Then Figure It Out Later' [Russ Heltman, SI]

""I would (franchise) tag him and then figure it out later," Tice said to start the conversation. "Try and figure out the extension later, but at least have that tag. I mean we've seen other teams do this, the Bucs did this with (Chris) Godwin after they signed Mike Evans. So it's not like the end of the world. They do have to thread a needle. You already see the transition happening. We've talked about this on several shows where you see them trying now to invest in the defense, in youth on the defense and cheap talent on the defense because they know their offense is about to get expensive."

- From Heltman's article

Ja’Marr Chase’s dad admits he initially wanted another team instead of Bengals to draft his son [Mohammad Ahmad, Cleveland.com]

"“I was like, ‘I don’t know anything about Cincinnati and they’re not that good right now. So, why don’t we just go to South Beach, right?’ I could just go sit on the beach and watch Ja’Marr on the team, right?” Jimmy Chase admitted to Burrow and Hoard on the podcast."

- From Ahmad's article

The Bengals were coming off a four-win season in 2020 and Burrow had gotten injured about halfway through the campaign. Zac Taylor had just six wins under his two seasons as the Bengals head coach so it's not too surprising to hear a prominent player's parent have this opinion. Things are totally different now though and Chase has played a major part in that happening.

Every Team's Most Important Contract Extension Ahead of 2023 NFL Season [Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report]

I'm sure you're shocked that Joe Burrow is the player listed for the Bengals here. Knox isn't wrong with his assessment, as Burrow has been the difference-maker in Cincinnati and the Bengals would be foolish not to extend him. The deal will get done and Burrow will likely be the highest-paid player in the league once the ink on the contract is dry.

"There's no reason to wait here, as Burrow has proved that he's an elite signal-caller capable of getting Cincinnati to a Super Bowl. Getting a deal done sooner than later should also be a priority because it will allow the Bengals to gauge their options with other players."

- Kristopher Knox