The Tee Higgins Dilemma
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) catches a pass as San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward (7) defends in the first quarter of the NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Francisco 49ers at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Oct 29, 2023.
The trade deadline has come and gone and Tee Higgins remains a Cincinnati Bengal. This isn’t necessarily a surprise to anyone, as Tee Higgins is one of the game’s premier wideouts, but it has set up what is going to be an insanely tough decision for the Bengals in the off-season.
Higgins is currently in the last year of his rookie deal and is slated to become a free agent this offseason. Obviously, it would be ridiculous for the Bengals to let a player of his caliber touch the open market so they have 3 true options: Extend him, Trade him, Tag him.
Higgins has been an undisputed top 15 WR in his first 3 years of NFL play. This season however, he’s dealt with injuries and when he has been on the field he’s been almost a non-factor. He’s also lining up opposite of Ja’Marr Chase who the Bengals undoubtedly view as a franchise cornerstone next to Joe Burrow and we can expect they will pay him as such. His past elite play paired with the slump and his counterpart lead to the crossroads that is the Tee Higgins decision.
Is the window of opportunity wider with Higgins on or off the team? It seems ridiculous to ask that question about such an amazing receiver but the Bengals will have to decide if the contract that Higgins will demand is valuable enough to eat up a good chunk of an already dwindling pool of money. It’s a position that every winning team has found themselves in.
If the answer to the question is no, the Bengals can trade him. But now, waiting until the off-season ensures the package won’t be as lucrative as it could’ve been just this past week. The Bengals have lost all of their leverage, Higgins will be looking for an extension from any team he is traded to, and teams will know that the Bengals don’t want to pay him that money. That will take Higgins’s likely first-round value in a trade down to at most a 2nd and probably even a 3rd round pick. Is that enough for the Bengals to let go of an elite wide receiver?
The Bengals can also use their franchise tag on him. It all but ensures you have your guy for the next year but how much better is that? Using a franchise tag in this situation is essentially kicking the can down the road. It’s a tough situation to be in, but in this case, it would be much better to bite the bullet while it’s still the only real large decision that needs to be made. Franchise tagging him, and pushing the conflict to 2025 puts Higgins right in the middle of Ja’Marr’s contract talks, as well as many other notable Bengals. Not to mention placing a franchise tag on a high-caliber WR is a slap in the face. It would damage the relationship and just make things more difficult to work things out going forward. Do the Bengals have enough confidence in a “run it back” season to negatively affect relationships and muck up contract talks across their whole team?
Finally, they could just be boring and extend him. It wouldn’t give people like me much to talk about but it’s a good option. They made a Super Bowl with him after all, who’s to say they can’t do it again? They’ll eventually have to sacrifice other positions to maintain him, but if they feel he’s that important to their offense then who’s to argue paying him? A lot of their decision this off-season hinges on his play, and the team’s success going forward this season, but the front office needs to already be taking steps to face the issue. It’s ultimately up to Cincinnati to decide how vital Tee Higgins is to their team’s success, and if they need him as they battle for the city’s first Lombardi trophy.
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