The salary cap hits and contract structure are out for the Tee Higgins deal.
Fans and observers across the league had their eyes on the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason, hoping that contractual stalemates between the team and star receiver Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins could lead to a trade of one of the dynamic receivers to their favorite team.
However, as nearly everyone now knows, both players reached long-term agreements with the Bengals over the weekend, and now the details of Higgins’ contract have been publicly released.
Those details, though, leave the Bengals in a good position, with the contract Higgins signed light on guarantees relative to other receivers across the league. He certainly did not have the negotiating strength of Chase, and his contract shows that, not only in his average per year, but in how inexpensively Cincinnati can walk away after two seasons should they wish to do so for whatever reason.
Yearly breakdown for the Tee Higgins contract
To understand how that is the case, the best place to start is obviously with the details of the contract. Thus, before digging into the specifics, here are the specifics as laid out by long-time NFL agent Joel Corry:
2025
Signing bonus: $15M (prorated)
Roster bonus: $5M (not prorated)
Workout bonus: $100k
Base salary: $13.8M (unguaranteed)
Per game roster bonuses: $2M ($117,647 per game)
2026
Roster bonus: $10M (fully guaranteed)
Base salary: $10.9M (unguaranteed)
Per game roster bonuses: $2M ($117,647 per game)
Workout bonus: $100k
2027
Roster bonus: $5M (unguaranteed)
Workout bonus: $100k
Base salary: $19.2M (unguaranteed)
Per game roster bonuses: $2M ($117,647 per game)
2028
Workout bonus: $100k
Base salary: $27.3M (unguaranteed)
Per game roster bonuses: $2M ($117,647 per game)
That’s a lot of salary and bonus mumbo jumbo, and what most fans really want is what it boils down to in terms of commitments and cap hits for the team. So, based on the structure as laid out by Corry, here are those cap hits:
(Author’s note: These numbers will not match what is on OverTheCap.com or another cap site as of publication, as those numbers are not currently accurate according to the linked report from Joel Corry on the contract details on March 21, 2025.)
- 2025: $24.65 million
- 2026: $26.75 million
- 2027: $30.5 million
- 2028: $33.15 million
How much guaranteed money did Tee Higgins get from the Bengals?
One of the details that has been most heavily reported on the contract Higgins signed is that it comes with only $30 million of fully guaranteed money at the time of signing. That is certainly the case, however, as the Bengals would incur a significant cap hit if they moved on from Higgins prior to the start of the 2025 season, making his 2025 base salary effectively fully guaranteed in all reality. So, if one wishes to include Higgins’ $13.8 million base salary in with the $30 million fully guaranteed, his contract clocks in at $43.8 million in the first year, a significant raise for Higgins off of the $26.179 million he would have earned playing this season under the franchise tag.
In addition, assuming Higgins participates in the offseason program in each of the next two seasons, and stays healthy and plays in all 17 games, he has the opportunity to earn $58.9 million before taking into consideration any of the incentives he could earn under the contract. That is a significant bit more than he would make playing this coming season under the franchise tag, while also getting rid of the headaches and potential distractions of another offseason of contract talks.
Why wouldn’t the Bengals guarantee more money in Tee Higgins deal?
It’s quite surprising that the Bengals didn’t fully guarantee the money in the first two years of Higgins’ contract, especially since it’s already so likely he’s going to earn it. (In all, 20 NFL receivers have more fully guaranteed money in their deals than Higgins.) As we discussed earlier this month, it’s not a cap consideration but a cash reason that the Bengals didn’t fully guarantee more money in Higgins’ deal.
When a team fully guarantees money, they need to place it into escrow and don’t have access to it anymore. The base salaries are paid out weekly during the season, so they can hold onto that cash from now until the 2026 regular season with Higgins instead of it being in the bank.
Most players would scoff at not getting the respect of a full guarantee, but Higgins apparently was content with the implied guarantees.
When can the Bengals get out of the Tee Higgins deal?
However, the downside for Higgins is that while he can earn very good money for being the number two receiver for the Bengals over the next two years, because the contract carries no guarantees past 2026, Cincinnati has the ability to move on with a very reasonable dead cap hit of just $7.5 million in 2027 if Higgins is released ahead of his $5 million roster bonus becoming due in March of 2027.
For those curious about what it would cost the team to move on after each year of the contract should the team so decide, those numbers are as follows:
- After 2025: $21.25 million dead cap hit in 2026
- After 2026: $7.5 million dead cap hit in 2027
- After 2027: $3.75 million dead cap hit in 2028
- After 2028: Contract expired, no dead cap
Putting everything together, Higgins seems all but assured to be with the Bengals for the next two seasons, and after that his contract effectively becomes team options for 2027 and 2028 with very inexpensive outs should his production no longer warrant keeping around. However, as long as he remains a potent threat for Joe Burrow alongside Chase, with the salary cap expected to continue to explode upwards, his 2027 and 2028 cap hits could become very affordable for Cincinnati.
