Joe Burrow challenges Bengals to pay up

Joe Burrow had to watch the rest of the elite-level quarterbacks in the AFC battle it out in the playoffs while watching at home. And to avoid this in years to come, Burrow made it a point to challenge the Cincinnati Bengals organization to do everything they can to keep their elite talent in town.

Burrow has benefitted greatly from having the likes of Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase in town, as the trio have formed undoubtedly one of the explosive offensive offenses in all of football since coming together in Cincinnati.

Unfortunately for the Bengals, they quickly have to make some tough decisions on both Chase and Higgins moving forward.

Higgins is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason if he and the Bengals are unable to come to a new deal. Chase meanwhile has one year remaining due to the team accepting the fifth-year club option earlier this year before he hits the open market.

The departure of either Higgins or Chase in the next few years would obviously have a negative affect on the Bengals prolific offense.

Naturally, Burrow doesn’t want to see either go, calling for the Bengals to pay them “what they are worth” before another team eventually does.

“I don’t know what more he could show and do to prove himself,” said Burrow of Ja’Marr Chase at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games on Thursday. “We have several guys like that, who have stepped up for us and deserve to be paid. Deserve to be paid what they’re worth.”

It’s one thing for Burrow to makes these kinds of comments. But’s it’s something entirely different for the Bengals to make this work monetarily

Could we potentially see Burrow take a pay cut to keep either of these guys around? That would seemingly be one way that the Bengals could still make the cap room work for both Higgins and Chase.

Only time will tell. But clearly, Burrow isn’t ready to see his dynamic offense take a hit.