Now that the process of tagging of Tee Higgins is done, Duke Tobin and the rest of the Cincinnati Bengals staff have touched down in Indianapolis for the 2024 NFL Combine.
Tobin was the first member of the Bengals organization to speak at the podium. He fielded questions about Higgins and a potential tag and trade situation with the star wide out.
After his podium session Tobin moved to the longer portion of questions with local media for over 20 minutes. He made sure to make the team’s intentions clear.
“We tagged him with the intent of him playing for us,” Tobin told the local media. “He’s a good player, we want good players, he fits us perfectly so we tagged him for that reason.”
The Bengals have been in a similar situation in the past.
They started 8-0 in 2015 and the duo of AJ Green and Marvin Jones Jr. were a big reason why they were considered a legitimate contender.
Green finished with 1,296 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns that season. He was also double teams often, which made Jones a valuable piece of their offense. Throw in Tyler Eifert and Mohamed Sanu and the Bengals had a top offense in the NFL.
The urgency to win in 2015 came with the knowledge of the "pie," as Tobin refers to it. Cincinnati simply couldn’t afford to keep all of those weapons on the roster.
Sanu signed with Atlanta and Jones signed with Detroit in free agency.
Green played in just 10 games the following season, failing to reach 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career. Jones racked up nine touchdowns in three of the five years as the top receiver in Detroit.
The Bengals know how talented both Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins are, they also know that not tagging and keeping Higgins will make Chase’s life a lot harder in 2024.
“The CBA is the CBA, that’s negotiated,” Tobin said. “Our job is to work within it to have the best team possible year after year and our thoughts are that this a way to have the best team possible next year. We will work though the challenges that come with that.”
There is no argument that a player like Chase, the self proclaimed Mr. Seven Eleven, has a unique ability to get open, but his job could be a lot easier with Higgins in Cincinnati for at least one more year as the Bengals set their eyes on the Lombardy Trophy once again.
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