The Cincinnati Bengals plan to make All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

“He is going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-quarterback in the league,” director of player personnel Duke Tobin said Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine. “We’re there. Let’s get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team. We have other needs that we want to build, and so we want to get these kinds of things done early enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team, but they’re all priorities to us but the ones that aren’t signed, are the ones that are on the table first.”

Coach Zac Taylor reiterated Tobin’s statement and added the team also wants to extend Tee Higgins’ contract and continue giving Joe Burrow the playmakers that help make one of the league’s most dynamic passing attacks.

“It’s good to have great players that want to be rewarded,” Taylor said. “That’s a good problem to have.”

Chase led the league in receptions (127), yards receiving (1,708) and touchdown catches (17) this season, becoming just the sixth wide receiver in the Super Bowl era to achieve the receiving triple crown.

The Bengals picked up his fifth-year option of $21.816 million, but will give him a long-term deal in the range of $40 million per year. Higgins played last season on the $21.8 million franchise tag.

All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson also is due for a big raise after getting 17 1/2 sacks each of the past two seasons.

Buffalo Bills receiver Khalil Shakir agreed to a four-year contract extension worth up to $60.2 million that locks him up through the 2029 season.

The agreement comes with Shakir, a Vista Murrieta High graduate, having one season left on his rookie contract. The 25-year-old Shakir led Buffalo with 76 catches and 821 yards — both career highs — while scoring four touchdowns last season.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce “was fired up” to keep playing after the season ended, general manager Brett Veach said at the NFL combine on Tuesday.

“He has one more year on his contract,” Veach said. “We left it at he’d be back, and we’re excited to have him back.”

The 35-year-old Kelce was mulling whether to retire or make another run. The four-time All-Pro professed his love for football several times leading up to the Super Bowl.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson will be facing competition for his starting job next season. So general manager Chris Ballard intends to find a credible challenger. Ballard said he’s looking for another quarterback to push Richardson, who was projected to be Indy’s long-term starter from the moment he was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2023 draft.

Richardson’s biggest problem through the first two seasons has been staying healthy. When he was on the field, Richardson struggled with his accuracy. He completed just 47.7% of his throws in 2024, the lowest of any NFL starter, and he’s thrown 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his 15 career starts.

Green Bay general manager Brian Gutekunst confirmed the Packers had submitted a proposal to ban the play, a modified quarterback sneak where two teammates behind Jalen Hurts push him forward to help him try to gain the yardage necessary for a first down or touchdown. NFL owners could vote on the proposal when they meet next month in Florida.

Nine-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro offensive tackle Jason Peters is retiring after 21 NFL seasons and transitioning into a front office role with Seattle, Seahawks GM John Schneider said. Schneider said Peters will serve as an assistant to Mo Kelly, the Seahawks’ vice president of player affairs. The 43-year-old Peters spent the past two years in Seattle, where he appeared in eight games in 2023 and spent last season on the practice squad before landing on injured reserve in December.

TENNIS

It turns out 44-year-old Venus Williams will not be playing at the BNP Paribas Open, the tournament revealed over the weekend — less than a week after it announced she would be competing there with a wild-card entry.

“Our team has been informed that Venus is not accepting the wild card this year,” the event posted on social media, saying it was a message from Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas.

Williams hasn’t competed anywhere on tour since a first-round loss at the Miami Open in March 2024.

miscellany

North Carolina basketball coach Hubert Davis has another two years on his deal and a new general manager to help the blueblood men’s basketball program deal with the changing landscape of college athletics. Davis has signed a two-year extension running through the 2029-30 season to lead his alma mater.

Closer Kyle Finnegan agreed to a one-year, $6 million contract to return to the Washington Nationals, pending the successful completion of a physical exam. The 33-year-old right-hander went 3-8 with a 3.68 ERA and 38 saves in 43 chances. Finnegan ranked second in the National League in saves.

A hand injury forced Dan Hooker to withdraw from his lightweight fight against Justin Gaethje in the March 8 co-main event of UFC 313 in Las Vegas. No replacement was immediately announced. The fight between third-ranked challenger Gaethje and No. 6 Hooker was scheduled as the lead-up to the main event between light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira and top-ranked challenger Magomed Ankalaev.