The Cincinnati Bengals are hoping to pull off an ambitious -- and expensive -- offseason.
The team will attempt to secure a trio of stars who need new deals -- wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and defensive end Trey Hendrickson -- for the long term, sources told ESPN.
Whether Cincinnati can pull it off remains uncertain, but its messaging behind the scenes is that it's certainly going to try.
That starts with Higgins, who is set to hit free agency March 12. One team source believes the Bengals will use the franchise tag on Higgins if no long-term deal is reached by the March 4 tag deadline "in order to have time to get a deal done.