Titans should be all-in on trading for Bengals star WR Tee Higgins

The Cincinnati Bengals and wide receiver Tee Higgins haven’t had any discussions about a long-term contract extension in nearly a year. 

Because of that disconnect between the two sides, Higgins is reportedly seeking a trade, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, despite being franchise-tagged by the team more than two weeks ago.

While Higgins is likely to have many suitors vying for his services, perhaps the most logical landing spot for the 25-year-old wideout is the Tennessee Titans, and it’s easy to connect the dots on why. 

Higgins grew up in Tennessee, starring for Oak Ridge High School, where he was a two-time Mr. Football winner and a five-star recruit who went on to play for Clemson.

The Titans are also led by first-year head coach and Higgins’ former offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Higgins played under Callahan for his entire four-year NFL career in Cincinnati, twice logging 1,000-yard seasons and scoring 24 total touchdowns during that span. 

Both reasons are quite appealing to Higgins.

“It would be good going back home to family and then playing for a coach that I’ve already been under,” Higgins told “The Sick Podcast” in early February. “It would be ideal.”

Along with offensive line, receiver is one of Tennessee’s biggest areas of need. DeAndre Hopkins has one year left on his contract, and 2022 first-round pick Treylon Burks hasn’t lived up to his billing as A.J. Brown’s replacement.

Adding Higgins would give the Titans a long-term answer for their No. 1 wideout position and help take the pressure off Burks and allow him develop at his own pace.

It would also give second-year quarterback Will Levis a 1-2 punch of Higgins and Hopkins, which would arguably be Tennessee’s best WR tandem since Derrick Mason (1,168 yards, seven touchdowns) and Drew Bennett (1,247 yards, 11 touchdowns) in 2004.  And it would inject life into a Titans WR group that ranked last in receptions (304), 29th in touchdown receptions (14) and 25th in receiving yards (3,512) in 2023.

It’s not known what the asking price for Higgins is, but the Titans have some flexibility in what they could offer, and they should be pushing their chips to the center of the table.

Perhaps the most likely package would include Tennessee sending the No. 38 overall pick in the 2024 draft to Cincy for Higgins. That would give the Bengals three picks in the top 49, and they could use one on a WR (like LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. or Texas’ Adonai Mitchell) in a class that’s incredibly deep at the position.

Another option that could be on the table would be a first-round pick swap that would have the Bengals move up to No. 7 overall and the Titans move back to No. 18 overall.

That scenario, though, is highly unlikely as it would take the Titans out of the running for the draft’s top three offensive tackles — Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, Penn State’s Olu Fahsanu and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga. But it could be in play if Tennessee is desperate enough to bring Higgins in and that's the Bengals' asking price.