Bengals GM Doesn’t Rule Out Tee Higgins Trade After Tag: ‘Hard for Me to Predict’

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVFebruary 27, 2024

Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Cincinnati Bengals used the franchise tag on wide receiver Tee Higgins on Monday, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be on the roster for the 2024 season.

A trade remains a possibility, and the team’s director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, didn’t fully rule it out while speaking to reporters Tuesday:

“The message is: We really like Tee, and we’re a better team with Tee. In terms of our intentions going forward, and answering hypotheticals of what could and couldn’t come about, I won’t get into that. But we feel like we’re a better team with him. The reason we franchised him is because we would like to have him. He’s not under contract, and it’s hard for me to predict all the different scenarios that could happen. But we feel strongly about Tee Higgins and his fit with us.”Tobin struck a far different chord when asked about possibly trading Higgins last offseason.

“I’m in the business of making the Cincinnati Bengals better, and so trading Tee Higgins is not on my mind,” he told reporters in Feb. 2023. “That’s their problem. [If] they want a receiver, go find your own.”

Chris Roling @Chris_RolingTell you what, nothing close to “go find your own” about Tee Higgins this year.

What difference does a year make?

Well, for one, Joe Burrow’s massive five-year, $275 million extension kicks in for the 2024 season. And Ja’Marr Chase is going to get a huge extension in the near future, too, calling into question just how much of the salary cap the team will be willing to commit to the receiver position.

Tobin acknowledged the challenges of roster-building within the constraints of the NFL’s salary cap while discussing Higgins:

“It’s always a priority when you think about premier-type players and how long you want them. We work within the confines of the CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement] like every other team does, and sometimes things come together on a long-term basis; sometimes they don’t. So, we use the resources we have, but we’re always thinking about the future of players and who’s coming up and who we want to have long-term relationships with. It’s a never-ending puzzle. Just when you put a piece in, someone reaches over and takes a piece out. So, we’re trying to fit more pieces in than they’re taking out.”As for keeping Higgins on the franchise tag, it was a win on several fronts for the organization.

It keeps him off the free-agent market, ensuring at least one more season of team control; it buys the Bengals time to work out a long-term extension if they choose to go that route; and it gives them the option to still trade him if negotiations go sour or a team blows them away with an offer.

Albert Breer @AlbertBreerThe Bengals announced the tagging of WR Tee Higgins about an hour ago. In the release, there’s this from coach Zac Taylor: “Tee has done an outstanding job for us since we drafted him in 2020. I’m glad that he’ll continue to be a big part of our offense and our team.”

“It’s really simple: He’s a good player. We want to keep him, and we have resources to do that, so we decided early to do it, and that’s where we are,” Tobin said. “We like Tee. We’re a better team with Tee. With the way that we’ve managed our cap, we had the ability to put the franchise tag on him, and we did.”

But the franchise tag is a temporary solution. At some point, the team will need to decide whether he’s a part of its long-term plans.