Over the past several seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals have been renowned for having arguably the best trio of wide receivers in the entire National Football League. To lead the group, former LSU standout Ja’Marr Chase has proven to be elite in virtually every facet of the game. Clemson product Tee Higgins has been credited as one of the best target men in the league and then slot receiver Tyler Boyd has become one of the best slot receivers around.
While Cincinnati has almost guaranteed that Chase will be with the organization for the foreseeable future, Higgins and Chase are both on their way out of the revolving door. Higgins may be stuck with the team on the franchise tag this season but the odds of the team being able to retain him on his desired salary are virtually nonexistent. Boyd, on the other hand, has already entered into the next phase of his life as a free agent.
Cincinnati Bengals Slot Receiver Struggles to Find New Team
While Higgins has certainly enjoyed the spotlight this offseason with the franchise tag, I have to believe that this offseason has come as a dramatic surprise for Tyler Boyd. Since last season, there has been heavy speculation that Boyd would end up landing with divisional rival Pittsburgh. After all, Boyd was raised in the Pittsburgh area and even went to the University of Pittsburgh for his collegiate career. The pairing seemed like one of the most obvious sets throughout the entire free agency window so far.
Strangely, that connection seems to have deteriorated as Boyd has officially turned his sights off of the Steelers as of Wednesday evening. It is reported that the Steelers offered Boyd a two-year contract worth $10 million per season and he was unwilling to take that significant of a pay cut. Boyd is coming off of a four-year contract worth a total of $44 million that began when he was the number-one receiver in the Queen City. After the addition of Chase and Higgins, Boyd has been mostly neglected statistically and has taken quite a hit to his value.
After the conclusion of Boyd’s conversation with Pittsburgh, there are a few dominant teams that are interested in signing the slot specialist including the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. As painful as it would be for a Cincinnati fan, Boyd would fit in perfectly in Kansas City and provide elite quarterback Patrick Mahomes a consistent and proven target to throw to.
While there are a few teams that would still be interested in Boyd, it would make a lot of sense for Cincinnati to close in and bring their former slot receiver back to Southwest Ohio. If Higgins really does force a trade this offseason, signing Boyd would be a relatively inexpensive option to assist with the transition of this position group to a post-Higgins world. Boyd would likely slide in as a hybrid slot-outside wide receiver and second-year players Charlie Jones and Andrei Iosivas would split the role for third receiver.
Considering that lower-pedigree receivers like Gabe Davis and Calvin Ridley have been able to get monster contracts, it is difficult to understand why Boyd’s market has evaporated. Boyd has been tremendously consistent throughout his career and has managed to remain fairly healthy by only missing nine games in his eight-season career. The argument can be made that Boyd’s value has only been damaged by the crowded position group in Cincinnati and he will likely shine with whichever team finally lands the former Panther.
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