PALM BEACH, Fla. _ Marc Ganis is so tied into the financial hierarchy of the NFL as an informal/ unofficial advisor that he's been called the "33^rd owner," and is as much a part of the landscape this week during the league's annual meetings as the cascading fountains guarding the oceanside resort at The Breakers.

Ganis, president, managing director, and co-founder of the Chicago-based Sportscorp Ltd., broke away from hallway huddles with everyone from league execs to wayward scribes long enough to give a thumbs-up to the Bengals for signing wider receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to the record deals that keep them in Cincinnati for four more seasons.

"I just think it's impressive that they kept the trio. You have to count (Joe) Burrow in there," said Ganis of the Bengals quarterback. "One thing the Bengals have that very few do is they have three playmakers on offense. "Very rare and you don't want to give that up. They found a way to keep them together and they did."

Ganis kept watching the Bengals after the Super Bowl season of 2021. Each time, he's watched them decisively answer the questions.

"Burrow was the next great quarterback and face of the league and the question was if they would step up and pay him like the Chiefs did Patrick Mahomes," Ganis said. "They did. And kept him including massive guaranteed money. They deserve some credit.

"Then the question was if they could keep the two receivers. And they did."

Ganis was around 18 years before the Bengals made Burrow the richest player when they did the same for Carson Palmer. He saw them make Willie Anderson the highest-paid tackle ever twice and if you want to talk receivers, a decade ago A.J. Green got a top-three deal. So did defensive tackle Geno Atkins.

The Bengals did it their way, by making sure the salary cap charges in the out years are as workable as the charges in the early years in order to prevent a ballooning cap number that could possibly make one of the two cap casualties before the end of 2028 or force a bloodletting of the roster.

"Each team has to find out what's best for them. It's just not about what this year's about," Ganis said. "It's what about the next year and the year after that. Players you want to keep. Players you think you can move on from.

"It's the allocation of the dollars and its planning for the future. It's not a one-year thing. It's a continuum."

Ganis says in a salary cap situation with such big deals, there can be compromises, probably on the defensive side of the ball. But that can be countered with young players who pan out at key positions on rookie deals.

He felt the Bengals were on the verge of becoming one of the NFL glamour teams until injuries derailed some of the more recent runs. He thinks keeping the Big Three together ("It's what the Cowboys had with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin") can put them right back in the glamour business.

"Lets see what happens now," Ganis said. "It's impressive what they've done.

"It's also a demonstration of the NFL. No matter how large your market is, it doesn't matter. You can keep your best players."

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TEE BALL

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, one of five 500-catch wide receivers for the Bengals, said when the Higgins deal went down it was Higgins who was the driving force to get it done because he just flat-out wanted to be here. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor can see why.

"I think he can appreciate what we've got here," Taylor said Monday during his meetings media availability.

"Number one, I think we've got a great locker room that guys like to be a part of. It's a great city and organization to be a part of and then he's got a quarterback that he knows he can rely on and trust and he's got another receiver opposite of him and that's a big deal to be able to have that one-two punch and those guys know that and recognize that."

WHIT AND WISDOM

Former Bengals Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Whitworth surfaced here in his capacity as an analyst for Prime Video and had some good grades for right tackle Amarius Mims’ rookie year.

Heading into another year with Mims at right tackle and Orlando Brown at left tackle, it's the best and most consistent the Bengals have been at the bookends since Whitworth and Andre Smith held it down for the 2015 AFC North champs.

"Fun to watch," Whitworth said of Mims. "It's just like quarterbacks and every other position. We put so much emphasis on these young guys being whatever it is the very first year. It's such a process. Especially in that offense where literally he just lines up in the shotgun and is put in the most challenging scenarios he's ever going have in his career. That takes time. He's got all the ability in the world. I'm excited."

JERRY-RIGGED D-LINE

Taylor has enormous confidence in new defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery. Montgomery brings recommendations from his nine years in Green Bay as a developer of young talent, and he and new defensive coordinator Al Golden saw enough on tape that they wanted to re-sign free-agent edgers Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample. Throw in third-year first-round pick Myles Murphy on the edge and second-year tackles Kris Jenkins Jr., and McKinnley Jackson, and Taylor sees that nucleus as a phoenix for a re-build on defense.

"It's a big year for Myles. We have high expectations for him. We've always had that. He's going to have tremendous opportunity this season to continue to rise up," Taylor said. "I think he's approached so far this offseason, in just my limited conversations with him, with the high sense of urgency and so I'm really excited. He's made of the right stuff. He knows there's an opportunity in front of him to take advantage."

The Bengals not only wanted Sample and Ossai back to help Murphy get pressure on the other side of NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson, but they also wanted to return the veteran leadership of B.J. Hill at tackle and add a run-stopping force in the middle. They did that when the Packers' T.J. Slaton wanted to follow Montgomery to Cincinnati in free agency.

"If you can just build more production from the other three guys as they're mixed around, that's a huge point of emphasis for us," said Taylor of the pressure points opposite Hendrickson. "I think re-signing some guys that we felt like can be a big part of our year next year, Joseph and Cam, were two guys that were priorities for us. To get back. B.J. was our priority for us. I really love adding T.J. to the mix there.

"We got two young tackles (Jenkins and Jackson) that really didn't get the best opportunity to have a great season last year. They both got hurt in training camp. Kris started his career with the club on his hand playing defensive tackle. McKinley (knee) missed the first four games and then they get thrown into the mix the rest of the year and, hey, go swim rookies."