Both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cincinnati Reds have uniquely gifted superstars. The Bengals have the ultra-accurate Joe Burrow, the triple crown-winning Ja\u2019Marr Chase, and the steel-handed Tee Higgins, while the Reds have the fire-balling Hunter Greene and the unicorn Elly De La Cruz. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a very real chance, however, that none of them will be around by 2030. How could and why would this happen? Here\u2019s a look at why 2030 will be the start of the next era for Cincinnati sports, for better or for worse. <\/p>\n
Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja\u2019Marr Chase (1), quarterback Joe Burrow (9) and wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) take the field as captains for the coin toss before the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.<\/p>\n
The Bengals want to win now<\/a>, as they\u2019ve just extended their three best (non-QB) players, Chase, Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson. While Hendrickson technically wasn\u2019t \u201cextended,\u201d his acquisition of a raise to remain for 2025 certainly felt like one, as the alternative was a trade. <\/p>\n Higgins and Chase, on the other hand, were given authentic extensions through 2028 and 2029, respectively. This aligns with Burrow, as his contract also keeps him in the jungle through 2029. <\/p>\n With Burrow\u2019s and Chase\u2019s drive for winning, if the Bengals don\u2019t make another Super Bowl (or at the very least remain a viable contender for one), they may opt to leave. Cincinnati fans remember the Carson Palmer debacle like skin remembers a scar, and if either Burrow or Chase finds themselves in a similar situation, it might be too much for the fans to handle. <\/p>\n Of course, these are only the best players, and there are many others<\/a> whose extensions will likely also hinge on both the team\u2019s success and the presence of these three. These include Amarius Mims and Tahj Brooks in 2028, and Shemar Stewart in 2029. <\/p>\n In the worst-case scenario, the Bengals continue to miss the postseason, and Higgins, along with the first wave of aforementioned players, all decide to leave before Burrow, Chase, and the rest follow suit. That\u2019s assuming that neither Burrow nor Chase would demand a trade before, too. <\/p>\n If they do win, however, and everyone decides to stay (or is viable enough to trade away before), this would set the franchise up nicely starting in 2030 and beyond. This puts a lot of pressure on the front office to win, as the difference between a franchise with a league-best quarterback and receiver and one with neither is drastic. <\/p>\n The chances of having two fall in their lap in two consecutive seasons again are near none, so they have to take advantage of their talent now. If they don\u2019t, it could be the start of a very dark era of football in the Queen City (even by Cincinnati\u2019s standards<\/a>). <\/p>\n Cincinnati Reds Right down the street from the Bengals and Paycor Stadium are the Reds, who are working with a similar timeline<\/a> as their neighbors down the river. The face of the team, De La Cruz\u2019s contract keeps him with the team through 2029, and ace Greene\u2019s with the team through 2028. <\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that De La Cruz\u2019s agent, Scott Boras, has little to no interest in discussing his client remaining in Cincinnati. Greene, too, could very well decide to move on, or be dealt beforehand if things are headed in the wrong direction with the Reds. <\/p>\n Baseball is different than football in that teams have more tools at their disposal, such as salary arbitration and contract renewals, to keep players around. This makes it a lot harder to determine where the rest of the team will be by this point, as several are younger and still going through this process.<\/p>\n If the team is struggling, though, it\u2019s likely that they won\u2019t be around as long, as trading is also much more common and maneuverable in the MLB. There is also the possibility of the Reds building a roster that can produce sustained success<\/a>, though, which could keep both Greene and De La Cruz wanting to stay in Cincinnati. <\/p>\n Granted things go well for team manager Terry Francona, he could also get an extension as his contract is through 2027 (with a club option for 2028). A manager can have a massive impact on a team\u2019s performance, and if they move on from Francona (barring things like health), it will almost certainly signify that the team is struggling. <\/p>\n If the team performs well enough to justify an extension for Francona, there\u2019s a chance that Greene and\/or De La Cruz would be convinced to stay in 2030. Especially since managers typically don\u2019t last very long in Cincinnati<\/a>.<\/p>\n End Of My Cincinnati 2030 Rant Both the Bengals and the Reds have a daunting 2029 deadline looming, and each of their next eras hinges upon massive successes before then. If they can\u2019t manage to perform up to the task, they may just lose their superstars. <\/p>\n It\u2019s difficult to imagine Cincinnati without Burrow, Chase, Higgins, De La Cruz, and Greene, as they\u2019ve become focal points of the city\u2019s sports culture. It is, however, something that their fans may have to face if either or both fumble their opportunity to win with this kind of talent. <\/p>\n The march towards 2030 is underway, and the fate of both franchises is being written. Will Cincinnati lose its stars, or can it finally break its drought of not having a legitimate sports dynasty since the 1970s? The answer lies only in 2030. <\/p>\n The post Cincinnati 2030: Start Of The Next Era<\/a> appeared first on Stadium Rant<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cincinnati Reds have uniquely gifted superstars. The Bengals have the ultra-accurate Joe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,787,227,62236,256,2296,7,4247,9666,6,56329],"class_list":{"0":"post-344892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-cincinnati","11":"tag-cincinnati-2030-start-of-the-next-era","12":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","13":"tag-cincinnatibengals","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-newsbreak","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-stadium-rant"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115154316459351047","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Jul 21, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz (44) celebrates with Cincinnati Reds third baseman Noelvi Marte (16) after scoring a run during the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (center) talks with wide receivers Ja\u2019Marr Chase (left) Tee Higgins (right) before the Reds home opening game against the Cleveland Guardians on April 12, 2022.<\/p>\n