What is the likelihood the Browns can steal WR Tee Higgins in free agency?

NFL’s free agency period is a wild place where nothing is out of the realm. The only downside to it is that the top players often don’t hit free agency, or at least not when they should.

One player that many teams are going to be interested in is WR Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals. Higgins is going to have suitors, it is just a matter of if the Bengals let him walk.

Top wide receivers don’t often hit the market, so that is going to be the big pressing point.

Could Tee Higgins end up signing with any team?

The nice thing about A to Z Sports is that we have an expert for every team to check in with. I went to our very own John Sheeran to get a firm grasp of the Higgins situation in Cincy.

“Tee Higgins can essentially be viewed as the wide receiver version of Jessie Bates III. The Bengals tried on multiple occasions to reach a long-term deal with Bates knowing that he’d be a prized player on the market, which is why they placed the franchise tag on him,” Sheeran explained.

The Browns were a team that was in on Bates before he ended up signing with the Falcons. Cleveland signed a safety from the next tier who goes by the name of Juan Thornhill.

“Cincinnati will execute the same plan with Higgins for the sake of maintaining roster control on a highly valued player. The idea of them letting him walk as soon as possible is far-fetched, to say the least. A tag-and-trade can’t be dismissed outright, but it will be for a high price, and only from a team that won’t directly benefit from the Bengals losing him. That includes the Browns and every other contending AFC team most likely.”

There you have it. If you believe that a team is going to be able to sign Higgins as an unrestricted free agent, you may want to think again. The likelihood of the Browns acquiring him in a sign and trade is next to none. Cincinnati is not taking a weapon out of their artillery and handing it to their opponent to fight them with.

How much will Tee Higgins cost?

As stated before, if he ends up in Cleveland it is going to be a huge shock. But one team is going to have to cough up some dough in a new deal with him if they trade for his services.

“Outside of [Mike] Evans, Higgins will be the most sought-after receiving option on the market for wide receiver-needy teams. And with the recent explosion in the valuation of the receiver market, he will be able to lock in a contract well ahead of other recent “Robins” like Chris Godwin and Mike Williams,” A to Z Sports cap experts Josh Queipo and Kyle Dediminicantanio said.

According to our cap experts, Higgins is valued at recovering a deal worth $23.5 million a season. It would be a deal of around three years and $70.5 million.

If the Bengals lose a weapon that would benefit the Browns. But there is no reason for Cleveland fans to believe they’ll be the team-gaining said player.