Cincinnati Bengals de facto general manager Duke Tobin is making it clear the team wants to address its biggest contract questions this offseason, which in large part means signing receiver Tee Higgins before he becomes a free agent in March, and extending the contracts of Ja'Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson before both lose their minds and stage holdouts until one day before the 2025 regular season begins. So Tobin wants to keep the band together in Cincinnati. SIGN UP FOR TUBI AND STREAM SUPER BOWL LIX FOR FREE Chase, Higgins, Hendrickson Contracts But that will probably be impossible because the tuba player wants to be among the highest paid tuba players, and the drum guy wants to be the highest paid drum guy on Earth and wants gold-plated drumsticks to boot. And the fiddle guy? He'll soon have other bands telling him he doesn't have to play second-fiddle in Cincinnati when he can play first chair with them. How's that for a metaphor taken to new heights? And let's translate all the quotes from Tobin given this week at the Senior Bowl in Mobile to the Cincinnati Enquirer in one short paragraph: We want to keep and please everybody. But we don't know if we can, because the players have to cooperate. That's it. And let's skip to the end of the tale in March and beyond: Some of the players will either be unhappy or be signed elsewhere. Tobin: Higgins Must Cooperate Now that you have the outcome, let's get to the issues. It starts with Higgins. It has to start there not because Higgins is the team's most important wide receiver – because that is clearly Chase. But Higgins becomes a free agent in March. So if the Bengals want to keep him, they have to get cracking on a contract pretty soon. "I’ve always been very upfront in my desire to have Tee Higgins on our team," Tobin said. "I’ve never not been upfront about that, and that desire continues, but we have to be able to come together with his representation on what that means and what the right number is for his experience, for his play time, for his production." And there it is. The Bengals are not going to just open the vault to let agents loot the treasury. Higgins doesn't expect to be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. He knows he wouldn't even be the highest paid receiver on his own team in Cincinnati, because that would be Chase. Keeping Higgins And Chase Difficult But Higgins expects to be at or over the $30 million per year annual average on his contract, league executives tell OutKick. That's a raise from what great No. 2 receivers have been getting, but new year, new market, executives concede. Other teams, seeing Higgins as a borderline No. 1 receiver, could be willing to go there. And that will put the Bengals in a tough spot if they wish to keep their pair of outstanding receivers. "It's going to be hard," Tobin said. "We feel like we have the resources to do it, but it all depends on how the negotiation goes and whether they're willing to accept wanting to come back at a number that makes sense for everybody." That's a hard stance when the opening free agency stance from other teams, including the New England Patriots, is going to be that Higgins is their top receiver priority. So, barring Higgins simply wanting to stay around guys he's familiar and comfortable with – such as quarterback Joe Burrow and Chase – he's looking for that first-chair fiddle salary. Chase Wants To Set New Salary Ceiling Tobin admits Chase is "a priority for us." And Tobin adds this is going to be a relatively logical, easy negotiation on an extension because the sides talked last year and there is a "framework" to work from delivered by the contracts signed by Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who is averaging $35 million per season, and Cowboys' receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is averaging $34 million per season. "Guys in his position have recently re-done contracts," Tobin said. "We believe in Ja’Marr. He’s very important to us. The other guys that have done contracts are very important to their teams. So, we believe there’s a real framework to work off of." Except OutKick has been told Chase expects to stretch the framework well above $110 million in total guaranteed money and an annual average per season "that begins with a 4," meaning in the $40 million per year range. Yes, gold drumsticks. Hendrickson Earns Raise He Might Not Get Finally, there is Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks and is a first-team All Pro this season. Like Chase, he has one year remaining on his current contract and also wants an extension that includes a raise, which Tobin said the defensive end "has earned." Last year, Hendrickson was unhappy enough with his contract that he requested a trade – which he obviously didn't get. And while Tobin agrees Hendrickson has earned a pay bump from the $21 million per year deal he's on, that comes with a warning that applies to everyone except Chase. "We can't have guys at the top of the payroll in every position, right?" Tobin said. "We'll do what we can. We'll do what we feel is right, and we will try to get Trey re-signed. It's not giving anybody an extension. It's agreeing with somebody on an extension." Those are words that break up the bands.