Two Cincinnati Bengals star players, wide receiver Tee Higgins and defensive end Trey Hendrickson, are ready to move on from the team. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Higgins and Hendrickson have requested to be traded as both are looking for long-term contracts.
Higgins asking for a trade is not a big surprise as there have been no contract talks for a year, Schefter said. He was set to become a free agent in March, but the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him. The news of Higgins’ trade request comes after the Bengals picked up the fifth-year option on wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Hendrickson signed a four-year, $60 million contract with the Bengals in March 2021. The Bengals signed him to a contract extension last year, tying him with the team through the 2025 season. Hendrickson will make $15 million in 2024, but Schefter said he is looking for more “long-term security than Cincinnati has been willing to offer.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the Bengals told Hendrickson they will not move him. If the Bengals were to trade him before June 1, it would cause $7.8 million in dead money with $12.3 million in cap savings.
Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson are Bengals’ playmakers
Higgins and Hendrickson have been big contributors to the Bengals over the last few years. Higgins has had two 1,000-yard seasons and has collected 24 touchdown receptions in four years. Hendrickson has reached the Pro Bowl the last three seasons and was named to the First All-Pro Team in 2023 after posting a career-high 17.5 sacks.
It was originally reported that Higgins requested a trade last month. However, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor believes he will be with the team this fall.
“I wasn’t too stressed about not having Tee next year,” Taylor said during an interview with PFT Live. “Internally, when you have those conversations, there wasn’t a whole lot for me to stress about. He’s a huge part of what we do. He works his tail off to put himself in position to be where he’s at. So he needs to be a part of what we’re doing.”
When Hendrickson signed his contract extension last year, he talked about the impact the Bengals had on his career. “They gave me a tremendous opportunity two years ago, there was a lot of question marks around my name. They believed in me,” he said, per the Associated Press. “And I still have the same desire to prove them right in the way they’ve invested in me.”
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