Bengals To Place Franchise Tag On Tee Higgins

No one actually thought the Cincinnati Bengals were going to let Tee Higgins become an unrestricted free agent, right? As expected, the Bengals have informed Higgins that he will be the recipient of the franchise tag, according to reports.

This is nothing earth-shattering here. Cincinnati is coming off a season that did not go their way pretty much from the start. Wanting to run it back with a sizable amount of their offensive weapons intact is a no-brainer. Bringing back Higgins to pair alongside Ja’Marr Chase with a full season of a healthy Joe Burrow throwing them the ball should lead to a much better outcome in 2024. This is, of course, assuming that Higgins plays in Cincinnati this year.

There is still the possibility that Higgins will make the unthinkable move of not signing the franchise tag. This has been done in the league previously with disastrous results. Perhaps Higgins thinks he can make it out the other side and not have his career fall off a cliff. A trade is also an outcome that is on the table, and it is more likely than Higgins sitting out. When taking the way the Bengals operate into consideration, a trade of Higgins will provide them with draft capital for the future and more flexibility to make multiple additions to the roster that will raise their talent floor.

This is going to be an incredibly tempting route for the Bengals to go down. Cincinnati is a franchise that does things their way, and they have diverted from that philosophy in only the rarest of occasions (Burrow). Higgins is a very talented player, but going above and beyond their normal operating parameters seems unlikely at this time.