With the start of the NFL offseason just a few days away, there might not be a more fascinating team than the Cincinnati Bengals.
On the one hand — despite missing the playoffs this season — Cincinnati is well positioned with an established franchise quarterback and one of the most talented rosters in the NFL. On the other hand, the rent is coming due, with three of the Bengals’ best players — Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson — all due for new contracts, which could prove problematic for a team not typically known for its spending.
Appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday morning, that aforementioned franchise quarterback, Joe Burrow, made it clear he expects Cincinnati to sign Chase, Higgins and Hendrickson to new deals. And after Stephen A. Smith expressed skepticism that Bengals ownership would be willing to do so, the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner pointed to some mechanisms that could help turn his hopes into a reality.
“The cap is going up each year. We just got new TV deals,” Burrow said. “We all want to stay together, so we’re all going to do what it takes to do that. And you know, we have great players that have done great things and deserve to be paid. They’re going to be paid what they’re worth, whether we do it or somebody else. I hope we do it. I think we’ve had the discussions that the guys are going to get paid, that need to get paid, and so — it’s a big off season for the Bengals.”
Joe Burrow addresses the Bengals slow starts and the importance of their WRs 💪
“We have the space we need to keep both [Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins].” pic.twitter.com/2cSy0YUfts
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 6, 2025
We’ll find out in the weeks and months ahead whether Cincinnati will do what’s necessary to keep its core intact. But from a sports media perspective, the first two sentences in Burrow’s answer were telling.
Every time TV ratings discourse makes its way to the masses, there’s always an outpouring sentiment that’s some version of “who cares?” And while it’s ultimately up to each fan to determine what he or she cares (or doesn’t care) about, you can’t say this stuff doesn’t matter.
Look no further than Burrow’s answer, in which he immediately pointed to the salary cap increasing via the current media rights deal the league first agreed to in 2021. If not for the NFL’s popularity — best illustrated by its record ratings — securing such a deal surely wouldn’t have been possible.
That’s not to say that ratings are the only part of the equation. As other media rights deals have shown, it’s possible to still secure the bag without eye-popping Nielsen numbers in the current television climate. Still, even with streamers taking up a bigger piece of the pie, ratings very much play a role in the type of deals leagues are able to negotiate, which in turn affect not only the ways in which we consume sports, but factors such as the salary cap and owners’ spending.
Again, nobody is saying you have to care about any of this, but if you’re wondering why you should, Joe Burrow just laid it out for you. As cliché as it might sound, sports are ultimately a business. And at least for now, there’s nothing that affects the bottom line more than the leagues’ media rights deals.
