Quarterback is back.
After a one-year hiatus, driven by the fact that the producers couldn’t find anyone to do it, the Netflix Quarterback series will return for 2025.
Netflix announced the move on Wednesday, with a trailer featuring the three subjects of the show: Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Lions quarterback Jared Goff, and Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Last year, the effort pivoted to a quintet of pass catchers, and it was dubbed Receiver.
The 2025 show will undoubtedly chronicle the trio of quarterbacks’ respective 2024 seasons, only one of which culminated in a playoff berth. And since the show won’t be landing until July, there’s a chance the storylines will trickle into the offseason — with Burrow pushing the Bengals to quit being so cheap with other players and with Cousins trying to finagle an exit from Atlanta.
Other obvious topics for consideration will be the December robbery of Burrow’s home by a group (allegedly) of Chilean nationals, the benching of Cousins for Michael Penix, Jr., and the failure of the Lions to get beyond the divisional round of the playoffs despite sky-high expectations.
Receiver Ja’Marr Chase has signed a five-year deal to remain with the Bengals. During Tuesday’s press conference to announce the new contracts signed both by Chase and by teammate Tee Higgins, Chase was asked what it was about Cincinnati (other than the money) that made him choose to commit.
And Chase said in the most tactful and positive way positive that, basically, there’s nothing to do.
“For me, I like Cincinnati because it gives me the opportunity to come here and focus,” Chase said. “You know, I’m not distracted out here. It’s not . . . too many things to get me off pace out out here, you know, and it’s strictly what I’m focused on. And that’s really tunnel vision for me to play football. So, I mean, at the end of the day, the food’s not the best. We can work out that, but . . . . I’m from New Orleans, I’m not used to the food yet. But, you know, overall, I mean, honestly, I just think that’s the biggest picture for me. Is that, you know, I don’t have no distractions here. I can just play football.”
He laughed when he said “the food’s not the best.” (It’s not exactly a controversial take.) But the broader point is that Cincinnati is one of those cities (and there are more than a few) where there aren’t the kinds of things that will keep a guy in his 20s from taking care of business.
Besides, it’s a far cry from the comments former NFL running back Willis McGahee once made about Buffalo.
For Higgins, the answer was simpler. He’s one of the few NFL players who has made a career with the team he followed as a youth.
“Man, I grew up a Bengals fan,” Higgins said. “And to have the opportunity to sign a four-year deal with my favorite team that I grew up watching, that’s a dream come true. . . . I couldn’t be at a better place.”
That makes the Higgins deal even more meaningful. Especially since it seemed that, not long ago, the Bengals were apparently willing to tag and trade him.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was outspoken in his desire to see the team sign wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to new contracts this offseason and that earned him some gratitude from Chase at a press conference in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Chase called Burrow a “big help” in getting the deal done and Burrow’s comments after the deals were officially signed were just as emphatic about what the two wideouts mean to the team. Burrow said he was always confident Chase would get paid, but he was less certain about Higgins and he credited the team for setting the stage for a four-year run with all hands on deck.
“You never know how somebody’s career is going to work out,” Burrow said, via the team’s website. “So we might be together until the end of somebody’s career or we might move on after that. But for the next four years, you know what you’re going to get from us and we’re going to be right here. We’re paying the right guys. Guys who work really hard for what they have. Guys who aren’t going to get complacent or anything like that. Guys who really care about the product they put on the field, and care about the fans and the organization and the people in the locker room. We’ve got the right guys.”
The Bengals also re-signed tight end Mike Gesicki, which was also on the list of things Burrow hoped to see them do. That keeps the offense intact and leaves defensive end Trey Hendrickson as the last piece of the offseason puzzle in Cincinnati.
The Bengals, as we now know, decided to convert the second Tee Higgins franchise tag into a four-year deal. The decision to sign him to a multi-year deal was fairly recent.
Agent Rocky Arceneaux, who represents both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer on Tuesday that, before the Scouting Combine, the Bengals initially planned to tag and trade Higgins. Then, things changed.
"[P]rior to the combine, we talked about the franchise tag and what impact it could potentially have on Tee,” Arceneaux told Conway. “And when they decided to tag him, I had assumed, because we had talked about it prior to the tag with the intent of trading. So we proceeded along those lines, and once the process started, it became clear and evident that the Bengals, like I say, it was more inclined to pay him rather than trade him.”
Arceneaux added that, before the Combine, “I didn’t feel like there was a chance in hell to get both of them to stay in Cincinnati.” After the Combine, Arceneaux began talking to other teams. (It’s unclear whether the Bengals granted permission for those communications.)
"[W]e later learned that the Bengals were declining conversations about compensation for Tee,” Arceneaux said. “And that’s when I realized that they were more inclined to reward him instead of trading him. So, at that point, I think the structure and the tone of the negotiations took a turn for the better.”
It’s unclear why the Bengals pivoted. It would be foolish to rule out the possibility that quarterback Joe Burrow, who had sent multiple unmistakable messages to the Bengals during Super Bowl week, caught wind of the trade possibility and privately intervened, directly or through his representation.
The Bengals might have thought it would have been enough for Burrow to keep Chase, his LSU teammate. Burrow had been unambiguous in his public desire to keep Chase, Higgins, and others.
Regardless, something changed. Before the Combine, Higgins’s agent had the impression they were going to tag and trade Higgins. After the Combine, it changed. It’s possible that, during the Combine, Burrow’s representatives met with the Bengals and said just enough to get the Bengals to have a significant — and expensive — change of heart.
When Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins simultaneously agreed to and announced new deals with the team, the implication (given the numbers) was obvious. At $40.25 million per year in new money, Chase is WR1. At $28.75 million per year, Higgins is WR2.
Higgins doesn’t want to be known as Cincinnati’s second fiddle.
“I don’t even look at it like that, you know what I mean?” Higgins told reporters during a joint press conference with Chase announcing their new contracts. “I kind of wish they wouldn’t have put it out there like that, because now that’s what everybody’s saying, ‘I’m the highest-paid two.’ Let’s just say I’m at a place where they value me and they respect me and I’m a good player. Let’s just say that. Not the highest receiver two or anything like that. Let’s just say he’s another great Bengals receiver that puts in the work and got his head down and just grinds.”
Chase characterized Higgins as the team’s 1A receiver. Which is accurate. Higgins has performed well when Chase isn’t available. And Higgins would be the No. 1 receiver on most other rosters.
He could have landed that title next year. If he’d refused to sign a long-term deal, he would have made $26.16 million in 2025 before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2026.
Regardless of where Higgins’s contract puts him on the Bengals payroll, he’s now the eighth highest-paid receiver in the NFL, behind only Chase, Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, and Brandon Aiyuk.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow applied plenty of public pressure — and likely some private pressure — to the front office in the hopes of getting new contracts for receivers Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and other players.
The Bengals officially announced the new deals for Chase and Higgins on Tuesday. During a joint appearance with reporters, Chase was asked whether Burrow’s efforts helped get the negotiations across the finish line.
“I think it was a big help,” Chase said. “Him just putting out little information, having our back. You know, I think that’s the biggest thing, especially coming from a quarterback.”
Higgins agreed, saying Burrow’s comments “definitely helped.”
Indeed they did. It wasn’t spontaneous. It wasn’t accidental. It was a strategy. And it worked.
If it hadn’t, the Bengals would have had a Joe Burrow problem that could have, in time, because every bit as serious as the problem they eventually had with Carson Palmer.
The Bengals have made it official with their top two receivers, announcing that both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have signed their respective extensions with the club.
Chase and Higgins are now both tied to the organization with multi-year contracts.
“Ja’Marr and Tee have proven they are outstanding wide receivers. Together with Joe Burrow, we have a very potent offense,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said in a statement. “That gives us a foundation to win games. It’s hard to cover both of them. Ja’Marr is gifted. He makes exceptional plays. I just look at the plays he makes and marvel. Tee has a great catch radius. He makes plays that stand out in your memory. We are fortunate to have this pair of receivers.”
“The Bengals have a long history of drafting and retaining elite wide receivers, and we’re happy to continue that tradition with Ja’Marr and Tee,” Cincinnati director of player personnel Duke Tobin said in a statement. “We are known for our explosive, high-scoring offense and Ja’Marr and Tee are a big part of that identity. They earned these extensions with their abilities and promise for the future. We have our receivers. The rest of the league can go find their own.”
Chase, 25, led the league with 127 receptions, 1,708 yards, and 17 receiving touchdowns in 2024. He was an AP first-team All-Pro for the first time after also winning AP offensive rookie of the year back in 2021. in 62 career games, he’s caught 395 passes for 5,425 yards with 46 touchdowns.
Higgins, 26, has eclipsed 1,000 yards twice in his career. In 2024, he caught 73 passes for 911 yards with a career-high 10 touchdowns in 12 games.
“It’s great to see these two guys be rewarded,” head coach Zac Taylor said in a statement. “Their hard work, commitment to their craft and dedication to our team make this an exciting day for all of us. We look forward to a great future with this duo helping lead the way.”
Mike Gesicki? Check.
Ja’Marr Chase? Check.
Tee Higgins? Check.
That leaves one of four who were specifically named by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow as players the Bengals should sign to new contracts. Trey Hendrickson.
Eleven days ago, it didn’t look good. The Bengals gave him permission to seek a trade. At first, the thinking was that the Bengals had thrown in the towel on getting Trey signed. The more likely reality is that the Bengals gave him the opportunity to see what else is out there — so that he could see what else is not out there.
Of course, any offer made by another team will take into account the fact that they also need to make an acceptable offer to the Bengals. This means Hendrickson will be offered less than he’d get if he were available to sign with a new team, free and clear.
But he’s not. He’s under contract with the Bengals. And in the NFL, the contracts are one-way. If he underperformed, he would have been cut by now. By overperforming, he’s stuck — unless and until the Bengals choose to give him a new contract.
They’ve made an offer. He wants more than they’ve offered. They’re hoping he comes around and compromises.
If he does, they’ll be four for four when it comes to keeping the guys their star quarterback wanted them to keep.
The NFL, unlike any other American sport, has spawned a class of national “insiders.” And the “insider” game has changed, dramatically.
Full disclosure: I guess I’m one of them, even if my approach is different. I mainly hope to find out, and to report, things they don’t want us to know. To uncover and highlight the inconvenient truths (like the year-to-year structure of Sam Darnold’s deal). To push the storylines that tend to hold the stewards of the game accountable (even if it pisses them off and prompts complaints to NBC) in the hopes of improving the product.
I’ve got no interest in reporting on transactions that will be announced in as little as five minutes after the tweet is posted. I’ll take the periodic nugget that lands in my lap, but I won’t play the game the “insiders” now have to play in order to get a head’s up on a new contract or a trade or a release or any other move that is about to be made.
The “insider” industry started as an extension of actual journalism. The pioneer was Will McDonough. Chris Mortensen widened the trail that McDonough blazed. Nowadays, however, “insiders” are everywhere. And most of them operate not as journalists but as hand-picked conduits for information that could be given to any, some, or all of them. (They’ll be upset with that characterization. Regardless, the shoe fits.)
We’ve addressed in the past the fact that teams often engineer the manner in which news of, for example, a new contract will be revealed. Five minutes before the deal is announced, it will be reported to the world by a hand-picked “insider.” In most of these cases, there’s no longer a firewall between reporter and subject. Instead, it’s become a symbiotic relationship — in the dynamic between both insiders and teams and insiders and agents.
One of the most significant developments in this regard happened upon the launch of NFL Network in 2003. When the league started hiring, and paying, reporters to cover the various teams that own and operate the NFL’s in-house media conglomerate, a boundary was crossed. Not as conspicuous as the Rubicon, it was subtle. It seemed normal and natural. And anyone (like me) who pointed out the obvious conflict of interest for those who were paid by the league to cover the league was dubbed an agitator at best, an asshole at worst. (The shoe fits for me, too.)
Right or wrong, the arrival of NFL Network shoved the “insider” industry toward where it now is. Today, when it comes to any transaction that teams and/or agents can announce on their own or hand to an “insider,” any “insider” who hopes to receive and report that information is necessarily compromised by the importance of maintaining the relationship that positioned the “insider” to get the scoop in the first place.
Last week, for example, the many Twitter reports (when Twitter was actually, you know, functioning) regarding new free-agent deals were littered with public recognition of the agents who negotiated the contracts and, at times, gratuitous praise for what a great deal it was. The General Manager that negotiated the contract was never mentioned, because team executives aren’t the sources for free-agent contracts. The information almost always comes from the agents, and securing a spot on the group text the agent disseminates now includes: (1) reporting only the new-money average, which is always higher than the value of the contract at signing; (2) reporting the injury guarantee, which is always greater than the true, full guarantee; and (3) mentioning by name the agents who negotiated the contract.
It’s not an accident. It’s the current cover charge for being an “insider.” Anyone who can’t or won’t play along won’t get the texts.
More recently, another strange dynamic has become obvious. When it’s time for the “insiders” to do their insider thing, with all of them getting the same information at or about the same time, they always behave as if they’re the only ones who reported it.
It became glaring over the past 12 hours, in connection with the report regarding the contracts signed by Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Jordan Schultz of Fox somehow managed to elbow his way to the front of the line. He tried to call it an “exclusive,” but it wasn’t. He simply got the information before it was handed to other “insiders.”
And even though much was made a few weeks ago regarding Schultz’s alleged methods for positioning himself (with or without offers of Uber stock) to get the information first at best or simultaneously at worst, the rest of the insiders simply ignored the fact that Schultz had it first. Hell, some are trying to make it look like they had the news before Schultz, because it was reported on Friday by others that the deals were close.
The audience doesn’t care who reports the news. They just want the information. The teams and the agents, for the most part, see the value in spoon feeding the information to one or more “insiders.” There’s a mutual benefit. The “insiders,” by snatching scoops, are able to justify their existences — and their salaries. The teams and/or the agents get their news publicized for free, before making the formal announcements.
The “insider” industry isn’t going anywhere. But it has definitely morphed into its own category of media. “Insiders” aren’t journalists. They’re external P.R. reps, whose packaging as a press release of what otherwise would be hard news boosts the outlets that employ them, while also making each transaction seem like a bigger deal. And, for the agents who drive the “insider” bus (especially during free agency), it’s a way to push embellished (and, at times, fraudulent) numbers into the NFL bloodstream while also getting a free Twitter advertisement that can then be used to recruit more clients.
It’s the NFL’s version of the circle of life. Throughout the year, the “insiders” harness and spread the information that teams and/or agents choose to disseminate through them. During free-agency week, the competition among the “insiders” has prompted each of them to set aside nagging concerns such as whether the information being shared with the audience is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That’s because, on the mean streets of #scooptown, he (or she) who hesitates to ask questions or get clarification or confirm accuracy has already lost the thumb race to Twitter.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow made his feelings known. And the Bengals have wisely blinked.
A team with a longstanding reputation of being extremely careful with money has prioritized the pursuit of a silver trophy over the hoarding of its gold, thanks to the public pressure Burrow has placed on the team.
His remarks, during the non-Pro Bowl Pro Bowl and through a series of Super Bowl-week visits with the likes of SiriusXM NFL Radio, Breakfast Ball podcast and Pardon My Take, made his position clear. If the Eagles can pay more players than their quarterback, the Bengals can do it, too.
Left unsaid was Burrow’s unmistakable message: “Or else.”
The “or else” didn’t need to be said. The Bengals lived it, 14 years ago. That’s when former franchise quarterback Carson Palmer decided he’d had enough because, as he’d later explain, the organization was more concerned about making money than winning games.
It wasn’t enough for the Bengals to give Burrow a market-level deal. Burrow, like most great quarterbacks, wants to build his legacy through the accumulation of hardware. And with several high-end performers other than himself on the team, he wanted them to stick around.
He mentioned, at one point, believing the team could, and should, keep receiver Ja’Marr Chase, receiver Tee Higgins, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, and tight end Mike Gesicki. Three have now signed multi-year deals. Hendrickson is the last man standing.
Even though the Bengals have allowed Hendrickson to seek a trade, their goal (we’re told) was to let Hendrickson see that other teams won’t pay a 30-year-old pass rusher well over $30 million per year. The thinking is that he could eventually come back and accept Cincinnati’s current offer, perhaps with a slight sweetener.
Regardless, the Bengals faced a gigantic fork in the road. And despite their history of choosing the path of least expensiveness, they’ve opted this time around for the road less traveled. Which had been less traveled by the Bengals because the tolls are much higher.
Few who have paid close attention to the league over the past 20 years expected it. It’s dramatically out of character. And it happened because Burrow made it clear that he wanted it.
What he didn’t need to say was that, if they didn’t do it, it was just a matter of time before he, like Palmer, would be choosing the road right out of Cincinnati.
