It's a massive offseason coming up for the Cincinnati Bengals who, after just a 9-8 finish to the 2024 season, are looking to get back to the postseason in '25.

Before they do so, however, they have some major roster decisions to make. Cincinnati's duo of star wide receivers in Tee Higgins, a pending unrestricted free agent, and Ja'Marr Chase, who is entering the fifth-year option on his rookie deal, are both looking for new contracts. The good news for Bengals fans? According to director of player personnel Duke Tobin, the team plans to get both across the finish line.

"I think Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player and I want him on my football team," the executive explained at the 2025 NFL scouting combine on Tuesday. "Whenever I'm in charge of a football team, I want Tee Higgins. So I'm gonna do what I can to get Tee Higgins."

"Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement," Tobin continued. "Always has been, it continues to be, and we'll work hard to get that done."

He added that despite reports, the Bengals have yet to use the franchise tag on Higgins and as previously mentioned, their focus is to sign him to a long-term deal.

Tobin was also asked about the team's plans for Chase during his combine press availability, and sounded incredibly optimistic about keeping him in Cincinnati for the long-term as well.

"Ja'Marr is always going to be our priority," he said. "He's a fantastic football player. He's gonna end up being the No. 1 paid non-quarterback in the league. We're there, let's get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it [makes] us to build the rest of the team. We have other needs that we wanna build and so we wanna get these kinda things done earlier enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team."

Reports have also indicated that the Bengals will try and extend defensive end Trey Hendrickson this offseason.

"We are fortunate," Tobin said of Cincinnati's salary cap predicament. "We've got a long of really good football players, fantastic football players, and we're fortunate to be in a position to fit 'em all in. We've managed out cap well, we've got low dead money. We want a high payroll and low dead money so the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can get a lot of money."

According to Over the Cap, last week's release of veteran defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins puts the team at about $62 million in salary cap space to work with in 2025.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bengals Executive Reveals Team's Future Plans for Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins.