Okay, so here’s the thing: Bengals splashing $276M on contract extensions for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins must have excited a lot of Cincy fans. Like tying down two of your best receivers for at least 2029 with $69M annually was some financial commitment. But as each day passes, possible holes have to emerge in those record-breaking deals. Let’s just say the Bengals keeping Chase and Higgins is not all sunshine and rainbows. There are still dark clouds hovering above the Jungle, considering their salary cap situation.

Andre Perrotta, a member of Who Dey Nation and a revered figure in the NFL community for his salary cap knowledge, might have just exposed his team. He handpicked both Chase and Higgins contracts, analysed them, and gave his verdict on X. Spoiler alert: That idiom you remember where it says, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ Well, the same needs to be applied to the Bengals flexing their Chase and Higgins mammoth contracts.

See, the first thing Perrotta pointed out was Ja’Marr Chase’s cap hit after signing his $161M contract extension. He found that Chase’s 2025 cap hit $21.8M, which was supposed to decrease—actually went up by $1.75M. Chase’s 2025 cap hit after his extension stands at $23.57M. Well, that’s just the beginning of the blunders the Bengals made with Chase and Higgins’ contract.

Later, Perrotta also added, “Bengals, imo, unnecessarily “ate” $8M in 2025 Cap Space by not folding in Ja’Marr’s $10M 2025 Roster Bonus into the $22M day-of-signing Roster Bonus.” To add more weightage to his claims, Andre also gave a different scenario that could have saved $8M for the Bengals. “If they just did $32M in proratable RB (instead of $22M proratable, and $10M not proratable), Chase’s 2025 Cap Hit = $15,570,000. Instead, it is $23,570,000.” So, there goes Chase’s $8M blunder. What remains is another $3.75M mistake Cincinnati made with Higgins’ $115M extension.

Setting the stage to expose Higgins’ salary cap space blunder. Perrotta first pointed out a positive about Higgins’ 2025 cap hit. “Higgins’ deal results in lowering his 2025 Cap Hit by $2,117,435 compared to the 2nd Franchise Tag,” wrote on X. Then, he went on to add how the Bengals could have saved a further $3.75M if they hadn’t split his Roster Bonuses.

“Bengals could have further reduced Tee’s 2025 Cap Hit (compared to the 2nd Tag amount) by $3.75M if they folded his second 2025 Roster Bonus ($5M) into his first 2025 Roster Bonus ($15M). Since all $20M would have been prorated instead of just the $15M. CIN could have had an additional $3.75M in 2025 Cap Space. If the 2025 Roster Bonuses would not have been split,” Perrotta added on X. So, the Bengals may have made a few mistakes here and there in the Chase and Higgins contract.

Who knows, it could definitely come back to haunt them in their pursuit of other key players. But who’s the real culprit here?

Joe Burrow risks facing the guillotine in his role in the Chase and Higgins deal

As soon as the Bengals fulfilled Burrow’s wish to keep Chase and Higgins no matter what. It’s not at all surprising that people have already started to call out the face of the Bengals franchise. Hopping on the FS1’s First Things First show. Former NFL head coach Eric Mangini feels Burrow has put himself in a compromising position. “He’s under a different kind of pressure in the locker room seeing that he does have this power to overrule the salary cap and what guys get paid and it puts him in a difficult situation. It’s nice right now. But not necessarily nice long-term. I also don’t necessarily think the player should be driving the bus,” Mangini shared.

Looking at both deals, it’s crystal clear Burrow did push the Bengals to their limit into tying up Chase and Higgins. And it’s not like he will probably stop doing so. Obviously, after leading the league in passing yards (4,918) and TDs (43). What did you honestly expect from him? Ignore the noise surrounding Triple Crown Winner Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins contracts. Well, that would have been pretty dumb of him. So, him advocating the Chase and Higgins contract may have resulted in a record deal.

This means the pressure is back again on Burrow to perform like he did last season. If he fails to do that, the whole league will definitely be ready with their memes—if they haven’t made the drafts already.