The Cincinnati Bengals have a difficult situation to address this offseason with the contract situation of Tee Higgins, as his name has come up in plenty of trade rumors despite recently being franchise-tagged.
The NFL increasing the salary cap this offseason to $255.4 million made it easier for teams to stomach hefty franchise tags, which is exactly what the Bengals did when they tagged Higgins for $21.8 million.
Kay Adams of the Up & Adams show recently stated that Cincy should not trade Higgins if they’re serious about making it back to a Super Bowl.
“Tee is the guy that can push the Bengals over the edge in the AFC and get it done,” Adams said.
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Higgins just turned 25 and has 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns already in four seasons in orange and black.
The numbers Tee has put up as the No. 2 option in the passing game have been nothing short of remarkable, and there’s no wonder his name has surfaced in trade rumors and free agency since it’s fair to assume Higgins might want to leave and be a top option somewhere else.
No. 3 receiver Tyler Boyd is hitting free agency, and long-time running back stalwart Joe Mixon might be right behind him, so the Bengals cannot afford to lose all their weapons in one offseason.
Adams is right in stating how pivotal Higgins is to this offense and noting the fact that the Bengals have over $50 million in cap space to accommodate him.
Keeping Higgins alongside Chase and Joe Burrow long-term would bring this young explosive offense the stability it needs.
We’ll see what’s next in this storyline, as some players refuse to play on a franchise tag.
A trade currently seems to be unlikely, but you never know.
