Bengals are on the clock after Justin Jefferson’s massive contract extension

The Cincinnati Bengals are officially on the clock following the massive contract extension that wide receiver Justin Jefferson signed with the Minnesota Vikings. The Bengals have not one, but two star wide receivers seeking long-term extensions in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and Jefferson’s deal should have an enormous impact on both guys.

Impact on Ja’Marr Chase

Chase should be in line for a similar deal to the one that Jefferson got ($140 million over four years), and the Bengals pass-catcher actually wanted to wait for Jefferson to sign his deal and reset the market before putting pen to paper.

“Hell yeah,” Chase replied earlier this year when asked if Jefferson’s negotiations would impact his own.

Now that Jefferson has signed his contract, we have a much better idea of what kind of deal Chase is likely seeking. But when will it come?

According to a report from earlier this offseason, Chase is unlikely to receive an extension this offseason. After all, he’s under contract for next season, and the Bengals could would until next offseason to extend him. But, now that Jefferson’s contract is complete, it’s fair to wonder why they would wait.

Chase is absolutely part of the organization’s long-term plans, so the argument could be made that they should lock him up as quickly as possible to keep him happy. It will be interesting to see if Jefferson’s contract expedites Chase’s own situation.

Impact on Tee Higgins

Meanwhile, Jefferson’s new deal might be bad news for Tee Higgins’ long-term future in Cincinnati. The Bengals now know how much they’re going to have to pay to keep Chase in black-and-orange, and it won’t be cheap. The team has clearly been hesitant to pay two big-money wide receivers, and the figures from Jefferson’s contract are unlikely to do anything to change that.

Plus, now that Higgins sees how much some of his peers are getting, his own asking price may have gone up, which will make it even harder for the Bengals to sign him to an acceptable extension, if they were so inclined.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible that the two side will ultimately come to an agreement, but it was already unlikely prior to Jefferson’s deal, and it seems even more unlikely now.