Bengals' Tee Higgins just set the bar for Eagles' DeVonta Smith with new contract

When Eagles’ wide receiver DeVonta Smith gets a minute, he should send a “thank you” note to the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office. They just made his upcoming contract negotiations much easier.

On Monday, the Bengals announced they will use the franchise tag on wide receiver Tee Higgins. The 25-year-old wide receiver has played in 58 games as a Bengal making 257 catches for 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns. 

Higgins led Cincinnati with 908 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie in 2020, but he’s been the team’s No. 2 receiver since Ja’Marr Chase came on board a year later. But with a one-year deal worth $21.8M under the franchise tag, he’ll be paid like a No.1 receiver in 2024.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s Smith is entering the final season of his rookie contract. The 25-year-old wide receiver has played in 50 games as an Eagle making 240 catches for 3,178 yards and 19 touchdowns.

He led Philadelphia with 916 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie in 2021, but he’s been the Eagle’s No. 2 receiver since the team traded for A.J. Brown in 2022. But now that Higgins will be paid like a top-5 receiver under the tag, the price for No. 2 receivers just went up.

Smith is scheduled to make $1M in base salary next year with a $6.4M cap hit after bonuses. The team has until May 2 to exercise a fifth-year option that would pay him $15.5M in 2025, according to overthecap.com.

With an extra $13M in cap space available for all NFL teams, Philadelphia would be wise to offer Smith what Higgins is about to make. Once Pro Bowl players like Chase and the Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb hit the market in 2025, the average salary for wide receivers will increase substantially. 

Maybe that’s why Smith told the Philadelphia Inquirer he’s in “no hurry” to get a deal done. All the more reason to extend him now.