Even though the Kansas City Chiefs failed in their quest to three-peat, they still got to the Super Bowl and had a shot at making history. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals, who became a rival of the Chiefs during the 2021 season, failed to even make the playoffs.
The fact that Joe Burrow put together the season he did statisically (4,918 passing yards, 43 touchdowns, 9 interceptions) while Ja'Marr Chase had 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns and Trey Hendrickson notched 17.5 sacks and the Bengals didn't make the playoffs is pretty telling as to how the rest of the roster played during the 2024 season.
Chase and Hendrickson are two of the most important players on the Bengals' roster but so are free agents-to-be Tee Higgins and Mike Gesicki, both of whom helped Burrow out tremendously on offense last year. All four of those guys are itching for either a new contract or an extension and, unfortunately for Burrow and the Bengals fans, not all of them are going to get what they want from Cincinnati.
A recent quote from an NFL general manager will have Bengals fans seething, as, while speaking with Jason LaCanfora of The Washington Post, the GM said that Burrow likely won't be happy with what ends up happening in Cincinnati.
“Burrow is going to be pissed,” the GM said. “No way they are keeping more than two of those four.”
Chiefs fans can't help but smirk at latest Bengals free agent news
It's always hard to keep good players, especially after a team has to pay their quarterback and therefore is no longer able to take advantage of the most important player being on a rookie contract. When the quarterback is on a rookie deal, he's a bargain, and it makes it easier for the team to spend on other needs.
Chiefs fans know this all too well and the team won a Super Bowl while Patrick Mahomes was on his rookie deal. The Bengals reached Super Bowl LVI while Joe Burrow was on his rookie deal but that's been it for them as far as reaching the promised land is concerned.
There's no doubt that Chase and Higgins have been a huge part of Burrow's success in Cincinnati but paying two wide receivers a huge sum of money wouldn't be the wisest move because it'd make it hard for the team to do much in other departments. Offense wasn't their problem in 2024 either so making it even more difficult to help out the defense might not be the route they want to take.
That being said, Burrow has been very vocal about the team needing to keep Higgins around and overall hasn't been shy about telling the front office what he wants them to do. If they do what the Bengals often do and don't pay a key player what he's deserving of, that's one step toward aggravating the star quarterback, giving Chiefs fans some cheap entertainment.