Joe Burrow wants the Bengals to extend Tee Higgins’ contract amid heavy talks around his exit

But the final decision about remaining with the Bengals is in Higgins’ hands. Similar to other free agents, he would prefer to have a long-term secured deal instead of a short one-year stay. And Burrow wants the Bengals to give the 25-year-old what he wants.

Having him [Tee Higgins] back this year, obviously, I [Joe Burrow] hope we're going to have him longer, but it's exciting for me to have him this year, and then it's a nice little payday for him. Then hopefully he gets another one here soon . Burrow told ESPN.com‘s Ben Baby on Sunday

NFL Insider thinks the Bengals may trade Tee Higgins

Burrow’s words may have some weight about whom he wants to play with, but ultimately, it’s not his decision to make. And if ESPN.com‘s Dan Graziano isn’t hearing positive news about Higgins’ future in Cincinnati.

Graziano said,

A lot of people in Indy seemed to think the reason the Bengals franchised Tee Higgins as early as they did was so they could trade him. With a Ja’Marr [Chase] extension likely coming this offseason or next, Cincinnati might not be able to keep the band together around Joe Burrow much longer.

Chase still has one year left on his four-year, $30.8 million contract, which he signed in 2021. If the Bengals had to choose between Higgins or Chase, then they would think twice about breaking the LSU bond between WR 1 and Burrow. 

However, during the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine, Bengals general manager Duke Tobin claimed that he had no desire to trade Tee Higgins. 

I am not in the business of making other teams better; I'm in the business of making the Cincinnati Bengals better. So trading Tee Higgins is not on my mind. Tee is a good piece for the Cincinnati Bengals.

But that was more than a year ago. While there have been a lot of changes since then, the sentiment of keeping the Clemson graduate should still linger in Tobin’s mind.