Joe Burrow says he hopes his comments didn't hold "a lot" of weight for Chase, Higgins deals

After Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins signed their respective new contracts with the Bengals in March, both players credited quarterback Joe Burrow for helping the deals get done.

Chase, in fact, said that Burrow’s public comments about how Cincinnati needed to keep the two receivers were “a big help” in the process.

But when the quarterback was asked in a Tuesday press conference how much he thinks his comments held weight to get Chase and Higgins signed, Burrow had what could be deemed as a surprising answer.

“I don’t know. I hope not a lot,” Burrow said. “I think when you have two guys like that who, like I’ve said, you draft, they play great for you, you win a lot of games, they’re very productive — those are guys you want to reward. And I’m glad they’re here.”

Why does he “hope not a lot”?

“That’s not really the position I want to be in,” Burrow said.

There is some inherent power that comes with being a franchise quarterback, especially one who has signed a second contract after leading his team to the Super Bowl and another conference championship game within his first five seasons. But the point Burrow seems to be making is that he shouldn’t have to put pressure on Cincinnati’s front office when player performance makes it clear what the team should do.

“It’s great when you can reward guys who do it the right way, work really hard to go out and play great on Sundays, and do play great week-in and week-out,” Burrow said when initially asked his thoughts on the team keeping Chase and Higgins. “So, it’s great to have them for the next four years. I’ll be here, too, so we’ve got the core here and that’s exciting.”

Burrow also noted that Cincinnati signing both receivers when many believed they wouldn’t illustrates something about the team’s top brass.

“I just think it says they’re invested in winning,” Burrow said. “I think they want to reward guys they draft that come in and play great. I think that’s a recipe for success.”