Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins have spent their early careers playing side-by-side in Cincinnati.
The Bengals wide receivers praised each other before a crucial free agency that could split them up.
In a press conference on Monday, star quarterback Joe Burrow said “we all want Tee back” because “he’s what being a Bengal is all about.” Head coach Zac Taylor added that “it’s hard to imagine life without Tee Higgins” in black and orange.
Higgins has made it clear that he’d rather return to Cincinnati than hit the open market this spring. He told Business Insider that having a quarterback like Burrow, who “makes things easier for us,” is a huge draw.
Of course, the 6-foot-4 Clemson product also enjoys playing alongside Chase. The star-studded receiving pair necessarily splits the attention of opposing defenses, leaving both wideouts with a bit more space to operate on any given snap than they might otherwise have.
Chase has plenty of incentive to continue playing alongside Higgins, too. But after the Bengals’ final game of the season, the three-time Pro Bowler stopped short of committing to signing a reduced contract extension in order to make room for the team to pay Higgins as well.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans conducted virtual interviews with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka on Friday, their first conversations with candidates for their head coaching vacancy.
The Titans fired Mike Vrabel on Tuesday after six seasons. Vrabel won just six of his final 24 games.
Callahan and Kafka are both former college quarterbacks who have worked closely with two of the NFL’s best passers.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans conducted virtual interviews with Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka on Friday, their first conversations with candidates for their head coaching vacancy.
The Titans fired Mike Vrabel on Tuesday after six seasons. Vrabel won just six of his final 24 games.
Callahan and Kafka are both former college quarterbacks who have worked closely with two of the NFL’s best passers.
Callahan, with 14 years of experience in the NFL, has been the Bengals’ offensive coordinator since 2019 and is credited with aiding in the development of Joe Burrow.
The son of former Raiders coach Bill Callahan, he has been a frequent target in recent head coaching searches. He interviewed with several teams last year before opting to stay in Cincinnati.
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Callahan played at UCLA and began his NFL career as a coaching assistant for the Broncos in 2010 before being promoted to offensive quality control coach in 2011, and then offensive assistant in 2013. He was quarterbacks coach for the Lions from 2016-17 and then for the Raiders in 2018 before joining the Bengals.
Kafka played at Northwestern and started his coaching career there as a graduate assistant. He joined Andy Reid’s staff in Kansas City in 2017 as a quality control coach.
Kafka was promoted to quarterbacks coach of the Chiefs in 2018 and remained in that role until 2021, working with Patrick Mahomes. He’s spent the last two years on Giants coach Brian Daboll’s staff as offensive coordinator.
