Tee Higgins and fellow star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase met with the media after finalizing their big-money contract extensions with the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday.

The long-term deal was a long time coming for Higgins, who has emerged as one of the NFL’s top young wideouts and been a highly productive playmaker for the Bengals since they drafted him out of Clemson in the second round (No. 33 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Higgins, a sixth-year pro, is now under contract with Cincinnati through the 2028 season.

“I’m just excited,” Higgins said. “For me, it’s been a long time, and it’s finally here. I’m just happy with this organization.”

“It was very important,” Higgins added of signing his new contract alongside Chase. “I want to thank our agent, Rocky (Arceneaux), getting this deal done and changing my life forever.”

Higgins’ four-year deal is reportedly worth $115 million, with the first two years guaranteed.

He is now the highest-paid No. 2 wide receiver in the league, but he doesn’t look at it like that.

“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 2,” Higgins said. “Let’s just say I’m at a place where they value me and they respect me, and I’m a good player here. So, let’s just say that, not the highest receiver 2 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.”

With it being a monumental day in their lives, Higgins and Chase were asked if there’s anyone in particular they wanted to talk about for helping them get to this point.

For Higgins, that special person is his mom.

“As you all know, what she’s been through in her life… Y’all gonna make me tear up, up here… I wish she was here right now,” Higgins said, “but she wasn’t able to make it, so I’m definitely going to go see her when I leave here. It’s surreal.”

What message did Higgins have for his mom during the press conference?

“Ma, I love you. I did this for us. This is for us,” he said. “You ain’t gotta worry about nothing else.”

“And loves for Pops, too,” Higgins added, holding up the heart sign with his hands.

Higgins also mentioned how much it meant to him that former Bengals great Chad Johnson, a six-time Pro Bowl receiver, reached out to congratulate him on the big contract.

“I grew up a Bengals fan, 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,” Higgins said. “And then once the announcement was out, my favorite player I grew up watching congratulating me on that is even more crazy. So, I couldn’t be at a better place.”

So far in his NFL career, Higgins has caught 330 passes for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns across 70 regular season games, while recording at least 900 receiving yards in four of his five seasons, including back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2021 and 2022.

Higgins has also appeared in seven playoff games and ranks second in Bengals history in both postseason receptions (31) and postseason receiving yards (457).

The 26-year-old is coming off a 2024 season in which he ranked second on the team in catches (73) and receiving yards (911) and finished tied for sixth in the NFL with a career-high 10 receiving touchdowns, despite missing five games due to injuries.

Moving forward, Higgins says he isn’t putting any extra pressure on himself to live up to and play up to the expectations that come with a lucrative contract.

“At the end of the day, I just gotta be me and play my game,” he said, “and the rest will take care of itself.”

–Photo courtesy Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images