Nick Wright claims this will be the last ‘realistic’ opportunity for Joe Burrow’s Bengals to win the Super Bowl

Nick Wright predicts the Bengals will lose a few key players after 2023.

Nick Wright claims this will be the last ‘realistic’ opportunity for Joe Burrow’s Bengals to win the Super Bowl

(L) Joe Burrow and (R) Nick Wright (Image credit Around the NFL/ FOX)

Analyst Nick Wright believes that 2023 is the do-or-die year for the Cincinnati Bengals as they look to extend quarterback Joe Burrow‘s contract. The Bengals will have to keep hold of all their players if they hope to reach the Super Bowl, and that is only possible this year.

“If they (the Bengals) don’t win it this year, they’re going to spend the next couple of years taking a step back,” Nick Wright argued on the latest segment of FOX’s First Things First. According to him, the Bengals already have a good core of players, with the likes of wide receiver Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. They were the reason Burrow managed to guide the Bengals to the playoffs last season.

https://youtu.be/gOOBESb-UCI

Wright argues that if they decide to cut off any of the settled players on the first team, it will create a disbalance. Moreover, Joe Burrow is due a new contract very soon, just as Justin Herbert got his. Several media outlets have reported that the 26-year-old will get a deal North of what Herbert received from the Chargers.“Right now, Joe Burrow, Ja’Mar Chase, and Tee Higgins combine make $24 million,” Wright said. “Joe’s about to get 54 in the next couple of weeks. Ja’Marr will get a new deal this time next year. Tee Higgins is going to be gone.”

FS Video

Chase is currently on his rookie contract, which he signed in 2021, and is worth $30,819,641 for four years. Furthermore, the 24-year-old Higgins’ contract ends after this season. If the Bengals do give Burrow a massive contract, they may let go of one of the wideouts. Considering Chase and Burrow have known each other since college, it’s likely Higgins will become a free agent.

Related: Cam Newton sues ex-girlfriend Kia Proctor over possession of his ‘rare’ Bentley car

Can the Cincinnati Bengals keep everyone, or will they have to sacrifice a few to pay Joe Burrow, as Nick Wright speculates?

Nick Wright claims this will be the last ‘realistic’ opportunity for Joe Burrow’s Bengals to win the Super Bowl
Joe Burrow (9) wants to keep Tee Higgins (85) and Ja’Marr Chase as his teammates in Cincinnati (Image credit AP)

Burrow is ‘confident’ that owner Mike Brown and his team will “be able to keep everybody.” In the Tuesday segment of NFL Live, the Pro Bowler made his intentions clear: he wants to push for the Super Bowl, and he needs reliable men beside him.

Moreover, earlier this month, they managed to make some adjustments in their salary department to keep hold of veteran running back Joe Mixon for one more season. Not only that but Bengals added left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. to make the offensive line even stronger.

No wonder Joe Burrow is looking forward to the 2023 season. “We’re excited about the offensive line. We’ll be able to hit some explosive runs and get teams out of those boxes,” the 2019 Heisman Trophy winner said in an interview in June. He and the Bengals begin their new season against their AFC rivals, the Cleveland Browns, on September 10.

In case you missed it: