Duke Tobin sounds optimistic and confident about getting deals done. The clock is ticking.
INDIANAPOLIS — Duke Tobin didn’t need any reminders from Joe Burrow on national television about the importance of following the Eagles’ model and signing your stars to contract extensions as early as you can.
Tobin hears plenty of that already.
“My son works there,” Tobin said (his son is a scouting assistant on the staff). “He thinks he’s the reason for the season.”
A few hours before Tobin cracked that joke, Eagles GM Howie Roseman was fielding questions about how he built the most talented roster in the NFL. As Burrow pointed out, the Eagles got their deals done with their stars early.
“You have to have a vision for how you want your team to look in the salary cap era,” Roseman told me on Tuesday. “Doing (the extensions) early enough to try to save some cap room, every tine you save some cap room, it gives you a chance to add another player. It’s really important for us to identify the guys we want as quickly as possible.”
So far, Tobin has only gotten one of the four big deals that the Bengals badly need to finalize between Joe Burrow (check), Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson.
“(The Eagles) have done a great job of building their roster out, and they’ve got some high level players on big deals,” Tobin said. “Not as big as the deals we’re talking about making.”
And so goes the back and forth that the Bengals have been trying to figure out for years now.
Tobin started his comments on Tuesday by joking that its felt like they’ve been talking about Higgins’ contract extension for five years already. Last year, talks went nowhere and the Bengals made a statement by placing the tag on Higgins much earlier than they needed to.
Tobin struck a brand new message on Tuesday than the one he has delivered over the last year regarding contract extensions. For the first time in forever, there was confidence. He acted like he knew something.
“We want to re-sign these guys, reward them, and add to the football team,” Tobin said. “It’s a tall task. We think we’re up to it. Katie (Blackburn) has us in position to attack it well.”
The tone was a lot like what he shared in 2022 when he told other teams to “go get your own receiver” instead of calling about Higgins trades.
“Whenever I’m in charge of a football team, I want Tee Higgins,” Tobin said on Tuesday. “I’ll do what I can to keep Tee Higgins. Our preference with Tee is to do a long-term agreement. It always has been. It continues to be. We’ll work hard to get that done.”
He never even hinted at the contingency plan of Higgins playing elsewhere in 2025. He stressed that the front office has managed the cap to be able to make Chase the highest-paid non QB in the NFL, pay Higgins what he’s worth and retain Hendrickson.
“The people playing for us in Cincinnati can get all of the money, that’s what we want,” Tobin said.
He added, “I want deals done just like our quarterback wants deals done. Everything he says, I agree with.”
And with that, the clock is ticking. The pressure on Tobin and the front office got higher than it has ever been.
First, there’s the ticking clock of free agency.
“The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it makes us to build the rest of the team,” Tobin said. “We have other needs we want to fill. We want to get this done early enough that we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team.”
Tobin said that Higgins’ new representation has changed the state of the negotiations, and maybe “that can push it over (the top).” Since Higgins and Chase share an agent, Tobin said negotiations could run on “parallel paths.”
He says that there does have to be a bit of give coming from the other side. Tobin revealed that Chase “changed his mind” in contract discussions last year, which led to the hitch in the extension process. Tobin said that it would be great for Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson to go negotiate with an understanding of the “big picture” so Tobin can also upgrade areas like the defense and the offensive line.
Tobin also made it clear that his stars “Ought to be paid to their ability level. That’s what we’re going to do.”
He was even more open about where things stood with Chase, repeating that the Bengals were ready to make Chase the highest-paid non quarterback in the NFL. “He’s going to be the guy,” Tobin said.
Tobin’s confidence raised a question that he wasn’t going to address on Tuesday.
What if these deals don’t get done?
What if they can’t keep Higgins?
What if Hendrickson remains agitated about his contract situation?
What if Chase is wearing a hat instead of a helmet during training camp in August?
Tobin cast his dice and was up front about his plan to build the roster on Tuesday. The problem is that if these deals don’t get done, there’s no backup plan.
And there’s no way to guarantee that the Bengals will be able to get all of this done.
That creates a heck of a lot of pressure on Tobin, the front office and ownership over the next few weeks.
“What gives us confidence that we can pay high levels to our high level players?” Tobin asked rhetorically. “I guess the proof is in the pudding. We think we can do it. We think we can do other things, too. We’ll see how it all maps out at the end.”
Tobin shared his plan for building a roster that includes Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson on new deals.
It sounds like they’ll heavily invest in the defensive front, look to upgrade at guard, seek out the next prove-it tight end and add depth at running back and linebacker. They’ll be counting on the young defensive backs to develop under Al Golden. When the rubber meets the road in the high-leverage moments of the season, their stars will carry them.
If the Bengals don’t get these deals done? They’ll have some frustrated players, more cap space than they’ll be able to use wisely and a lack of true impact game-changing talent. They’ll have Burrow, Chase Brown, the two offensive tackles, some young defensive backs who have to improve, Logan Wilson and 40-plus questions across the rest of the roster.
Zac Taylor reiterated how much “alignment” there is between Tobin, the front office, the coaching staff and (most importantly) Burrow. He called these contract negotiations “champagne problems” because they have four Pro Bowl/All-Pro talents in Burrow, Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson.
“We have great players that need to be rewarded, at the top” Taylor said. “That’s never an easy thing to just snap your fingers and it’s done. We work through this diligently every single day. Myself, Duke, ownership, we’re meeting all the time. We’re all in alignment. We all want what’s best for our team. We all want what’s best for our players. We all want them to be happy.”
There was a whole lot of confidence coming from the Bengals’ side at the combine. It was almost like a called shot.
Will it translate into back-to-back-to-back home runs in the form of three new contract extensions? Or will there be no joy in Mudville because the Mighty Casey has struck out?