Can Bengals keep Tee Higgins? Resetting chances of the WR staying in Cincinnati


The line has been drawn. Opinions spoken clearly into a microphone.

Joe Burrow wants Tee Higgins back with the Bengals. He believes there’s a way to make it happen. He’s willing to help the cause with a contract restructuring. Keeping the big three together along with Ja’Marr Chase isn’t just a development Burrow hopes to see happen.

“Tee is a need,” Burrow said in December.

Given opportunities to walk back his thoughts multiple times in the waning weeks of the season, Burrow never did. He doubled and tripled down.

“When you have a guy like that, you just can’t let him get out of the building,” Burrow said.

USATSI 25117594 scaled


Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins served as captains for the final five games of the season, all wins for the Bengals. (Sam Greene / Imagn Images)

When the $275 million franchise quarterback speaks this clearly on a topic, everyone associated with the organization listens. When that quarterback is coming off a year when his MVP-level season wasn’t enough to make the playoffs and when he often embodied the face of frustration with a lack of support on the sideline, they heed his words more than ever.

If only it were so simple.

Taking Burrow’s contract, with a cap hit that rises to $46 million next year, then adding in an expected megadeal with receiving triple-crown winner Chase that will likely become the largest for any non-quarterback in league history will be a huge expense. Then finding a way to wedge in a deal for Higgins near the top of the free-agent market, all while fixing a defense that ranked among the worst in the league and an interior offensive line that fell apart isn’t as simple as signing a few checks.

“It’s possible,” Chase said earlier this year about the big three staying together long-term. “It’s 100 percent possible. Got to play chess in that situation, but it’s possible.”

Possible was the word Chase used then. The word you hear most often in the aftermath of the Bengals missing the playoffs is a different one: Hopeful.

“I’m very hopeful that that’ll work out to where we are able to get him back,” head coach Zac Taylor said Monday. “But there’s certainly a process we’re going to have to undergo with a lot of players on our team, and I can promise you, we’ll be in unison with whatever those decisions are, and that’s a process we’ll start now through the month of January and February, and talking through every player on a roster and how it all fits.”

Burrow used “hopeful,” as well, on Saturday night. Hope and optimism surround the Higgins situation as he enters free agency. At the very least, that’s a stark contrast from feelings that existed a year ago. The Bengals never really negotiated with Higgins and quickly slapped the franchise tag on him in February. They balked at a trade request and it was clear they would make him play the season on the $21.8 million tag. He seemed destined to walk into free agency at the end of the year.

This season changed many of the foundational aspects of that endgame.

One, the draft pick of Jermaine Burton in the third round blew up in their face and left them without a young, reliable option capable of assuming a portion of Higgins’ role. Andrei Iosivas grew dramatically in his second season but doesn’t bring nearly the same level of playmaking as Higgins. He looks destined to be a solid if ascending No. 3 receiver in this offense.

Two, any players who would demand large contract extensions in the future fell off. Most notably, 2022 second-round pick Cam Taylor-Britt regressed, and no members of the free-agent class emerged to deserve a significant raise with no big-money extensions expected. In the same vein, many veterans with large contracts also disappointed (Sheldon Rankins, Sam Hubbard, Alex Cappa, Germaine Pratt), leaving open the possibility for a series of cuts that could free up $30 million or more in 2025 cap space.

Three, Higgins put together his best season at the perfect time. His 75.9 receiving yards per game ranked ninth in the NFL. He only dropped two passes on 104 targets, posting a top-10 catch percentage among qualified receivers. He forced 16 missed tackles this year, a career high and more than the previous two seasons combined.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

After Bengals firings, hot seat ratchets up early on Zac Taylor in 2025

The only issue was the same one which followed his career.

It was another season when Higgins battled nagging injuries to stay on the field. He logged 636 offensive snaps (56 percent), missing time due to ankle, quad and hamstring issues. He expressed interest in getting a deeper study done on the root of his recurring lower extremity issues, as Green Bay’s Christian Watson did last offseason.

Over the last four seasons, Higgins failed to cross 760 snaps in a single year and has taken just 54 percent of the team’s offensive snaps over the last two seasons. He tweaked his hamstring on the Thursday before the opener against the Patriots, a game where the offense sputtered in a 16-10 defeat. A practice injury forced him out of three more games midseason. The Bengals were 1-4 without him.

The difference offensively with and without Higgins on the field has always been notable, but not overwhelming statistically prior to 2024. Yet, as the Bengals’ offense evolved this season, the splits without Higgins were cavernous.

2024: Pass plays with/without Higgins

Stat

  

With Higgins

  

Without

  

Plays

430

270

EPA/play

0.21

0.01

Yards/play

7.3

5.6

Success%

56.3%

47.4%

Yards/attempt

8.2

6.5

Passer rating

113.7

100.3

3rd down%

42.2%

44.4%

All of this backs up Burrow’s contention that Higgins is a need.

“We came in together and we’ve built this thing from the ground up,” Burrow said Saturday. “Tee is a great player and a guy that does everything the right way and works really hard for it.”

He continued, “He’s a one-of-a-kind person, one-of-a-kind player, and one that we really count on and is an integral part of what we do around here.”

Burrow, Higgins and Chase were trotted out as game captains for each of the final five games of the season, all victories. Higgins capped off the home season with a dominant 11-reception, 131-yard, three-touchdown exclamation point against Denver. All while playing through ankle and knee injuries.

“He is a warrior,” Taylor said at the time.

His value has never been higher.

Higgins switching his agent from David Mulugheta to Rocky Arceneaux (Chase’s agent) boosted the chance he could stay in Cincinnati, but it ultimately guarantees nothing. The Bengals could use the franchise tag on Higgins again, but that would almost certainly be part of a tag-and-trade scenario. Making him play another year on the tag doesn’t sound like a legitimate option for either side. Higgins will likely fetch in the $25 to $30 million per year range on the open market, perhaps more if a free-agent bidding war unfolds. So it will be up to the Bengals to find a number close enough to his worth to warrant consideration playing the prime of his career catching passes from an MVP-caliber quarterback, alongside Chase and to front one of the great passing attacks in football.

Going to somewhere like Pittsburgh, New England or Tennessee might come with more guaranteed money but includes the risk of irrelevancy and not collecting the entirety of the contract he signs. It’s hard to see that being the case in Cincinnati.

“Everyone, of course, wants him here,” Iosivas said. “We had a great offense this year. That was a credit to him being a great player. I want him to do what’s best for himself. You want to be selfish sometimes, of course, for him he wants to be selfish and make the most money, but is it better to keep this offense going or for him to do his own thing? That’s something he is going to have to pray on or think about a lot.”

Higgins has largely stayed out of the fray as everyone talks about his situation. A significant part of the reason he signed the franchise tag immediately after mandatory minicamp and announced he would show up for the beginning of training camp was to avoid the drama. He did so until the end this year.

“I’m tired of seeing my name speculating on the internet,” Higgins said. “It’s a good thing at the end of the day because it’s always a good thing if somebody wants you, but definitely looking forward to the day I stop getting these questions.”

GettyImages 2179830132


Tee Higgins will be in high demand if he hits the free-agent market this offseason. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)

There’s urgency on both sides to move quickly as the franchise tag deadline and the first day of free agency loom in March. The Bengals will see if they can make the numbers work with Higgins before the new league year all the while working on the connected contract with Chase and a potential Burrow restructuring.

Paying both receivers would put the Bengals in a class with the Dolphins (Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill) and Eagles (A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith) employing two receivers making at least $25 million per season while paying top quarterback money.

The Bengals are in a solid financial position. They enter the year 11th in 2025 cap room before making any space-clearing moves. They rank third in available cap space on the 2026 balance sheet.

Avoiding more drama with Chase, who held in from training camp, and Higgins would go a long way to setting a championship tone for 2025. The pressure falls squarely on the Bengals to remove any drama since by not signing the two stars earlier, all the leverage has shifted to the other side of the table. One that now also includes Burrow with his expectations of management clear as can be.

The probability Higgins returns feels as much like a 50-50 coin flip as any decision. Those close to the conversations have had a hard time producing any tangible percentages or definitive statements. For now, there’s a mixture of hope and reality with an understanding the truth will emerge as negotiations proceed in the coming weeks and months.

(Top photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)



Source link

About The Author

Scroll to Top