Teams have to make difficult decisions in the NFL when it comes to the salary cap. Fortunately, the Baltimore Ravens are one of the better-run organizations in the league and tend to make the right decisions (though everyone misses at some point, of course).
Ravens fans always enjoy watching their AFC North counterparts operate in these situations but one of the more interesting teams to watch in recent years has been the Cincinnati Bengals. As Ravens fans know all too well, the Bengals have had the luxury of having both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on their offense and now it's well past time for both of those receivers to get paid.
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Higgins was franchise tagged a year ago and ended up playing on the tag and now the Bengals have decided to franchise tag him for the second consecutive year. Higgins broke the news himself too and based on his one-word post on the situation, would make one think he's not happy about the situation.
Ian Rapoport reported that the Bengals "hope to do a long-term deal after the more than $26M tag" and while Higgins getting tagged could mean he continues to wreak havoc on the Ravens and the AFC North, there is certainly good news here for Baltimore.
If the Bengals sign both Chase and Higgins to massive contracts, it's going to make it incredibly difficult for them to add impactful players on defense. For anyone who watched the 2024 season, you'll know that offense wasn't the problem for Cincinnati, it was the defense that ailed them. Joe Burrow put up MVP-like numbers and it wasn't enough to get the Bengals into the postseason.
Bengals' latest decision will make it hard for them to compete
As we've seen in the NFL, defense wins championships. Without even a semi-competent defense, a team is not going to be able to win a Super Bowl. The playoff games is when this truly becomes the case and the Bengals are going to dig themselves into this hole.
They might look darn near unstoppable on offense with Burrow, Chase, and Higgins all locked up to long-term deals but that means they're going to have to skimp on the defensive side of the ball. We saw what happened to them when their defense couldn't stop anyone.
While Ravens fans would have loved to see Higgins exit the division, the Bengals now paying two receivers and continuing to neglect their defense will also be fun to watch.