PALM BEACH, Fla. _ After negotiating two of the NFL's richest contracts of this offseason with the Bengals' prized wide receivers, executive vice president Katie Blackburn emerged from Tuesday's conclusion of the annual league meeting bullish on the consistency of the game's most lethal weapons.

"I do think there's a benefit, especially with the quarterback and wide receivers having worked together and having that time," Blackburn said. "That is something that is an important thing. Having that consistency and familiarity should be a strength."

With quarterback Joe Burrow off a season leading the league in touchdown passes again teaming up with Ja’Marr Chase, the NFL's leading receiver, and Tee Higgins, off his career-best 10-touchdown season, Blackburn likes how the season is setting up after ending the last one with a five-game winning streak.

"We do feel like we have a strong team. We feel like we're in a good position to be able to go out there and perform well," Blackburn said. "I feel like you always expect to make the playoffs. You want to win every game.

"We finished strong. There were those couple of games early where we missed a couple of opportunities that could have turned it and put us farther. Hopefully, at least in my mind, we're going to try and build on that and try to keep it going from where we left off and hope that pays off."

The Bengals also re-signed 65-catch tight end Mike Gesicki, defensive leader B.J. Hill at tackle and sack runner-up leader Joseph Ossai.

"There were some really close games there. Had they just gone slightly differently, I think we would have made the playoffs, and we were playing really well at the end of the year," Blackburn said. "Hopefully we can build on the good parts, and I think by retaining many of the same pieces, it does give us a chance to build on that."

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THE DEALS

Blackburn is certainly no neophyte when it comes to brokering record-breaking contracts, which she did two weeks ago when the $40 Million Man Chase became the richest non-quarterback ever.

She did it in back-to-back springs in 1994 and 1995, when Ki-Jana Carter's record deal topped Dan Wilkinson's pact that contained the new tool voidable years. Blackburn reflected on the changes across the decades.

"I don't know that there are big differences. Guarantees are more a part of it," Blackburn said. "The bigger thing that didn't exist back then were the guarantees.

"As I look at it, I want it always to be years where the money each year is going to be going to the guys on the field. You would hate to have guarantees undermine that in the future. We'll keep paying attention to it and hopefully keep it where that doesn't become an issue and we'll see where it goes because it can affect more than the player with the contract."

She said the size of the deals did impact their activity in free agency, but they've still signed four free agents from other clubs.

"That did shift it. There's no question. We decided we were going to work on the Tee and Ja'Marr pieces," Blackburn said. "That definitely had an effect on what you were able to do otherwise. The (salary) cap going up some gave us the perspective maybe we could get that part done. There is always a tradeoff."

TREY STILL IN MIX

Blackburn continues to work on another record deal, this one an extension for NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson that would make him the richest Bengal defender ever. Although the Bengals gave permission for Hendrickson to seek a trade last month, he's still here, and they're still saying nice things about him.

"We have all the respect in the world for him. He's been a great player. We're happy to have him. And so maybe we'll find a way to get something to work," Blackburn said.

"He seemed to feel strongly about (the trade permission), and thought the strength of interest out there was going to be at a certain level. And so we said that it would be okay to at least explore … We don't do that all the time, but in this case, we felt like it was the right thing to do. Case-by-case basis every time. And he's still a Bengal, so we'll see. It's just something that we'll keep working through."

GOLDEN HOUR

Blackburn agrees with "the general principle," that the big deals mean hitting on their draft picks is at a premium. But she also feels that recent top defensive draft selections, such as edge Myles Murphy, are going to get a boost from new defensive coordinator Al Golden.

"We have some familiarity with him from having been here, so we highly respect him, and he obviously had success at Notre Dame," Blackburn said. "Hopefully he can build on that and get us going in a good direction … We'll get the defense going in a great direction and bring the whole thing together to hopefully benefit everybody."

MORE JOE

Blackburn appreciated hearing Burrow voice his support for the re-signing of his weapons, as well as Hendrickson, and said it was a layer of the process.

"I gave him credit for speaking up and sharing his thoughts," Blackburn said. "I think it's great he was making his thoughts known about the guys who have been important to him. We talk to Joe, also, and want to make sure he always feels his thoughts are certainly something we want to be aware of because he is a key part of the team."

STADIUM UPDATE

The Bengals are working on yet another big deal, a stadium lease extension with Hamilton County. Blackburn hopes the talks get going like her latest negotiations.

"We wish there was a little more urgency and it was moving faster. I do believe the county would like to get something done. It just seems to be very slow in making it happen," Blackburn said.

Although other teams are reaching out to the suburbs, the Bengals have had a big hand in building two stadiums on the Ohio River and want to stay in the city.

"We love where we are. I'm a very big proponent of being in the downtown. I think that's a great thing for the city," Blackburn said. "Our stadium obviously needs to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level so that we're competitive with others. At the end of the day, I guess we're playing it one day at a time, and it's just we have to see where it all goes."