Former teammate warns Tee Higgins about franchise tag

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former teammate warns Tee Higgins about pitfalls of playing on franchise tag

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 5/22/24

The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t had the best of luck with their recent franchise-tagged players.

As receiver Tee Higgins navigates what his future looks like beyond the 2024 season — one in which he’ll make $21.8M on his franchise-tag salary — former teammate Jessie Bates III, who was franchise-tagged by Cincy in 2022, offered the 25-year-old some advice regarding how to handle the upcoming season.

“I've been through that process through the franchise tag, and I let it weigh on me a little bit more than I should have,” Bates said, via ESPN. “It affected my play and how I was living my day-to-day life. So, my thing for Tee is, just work on your craft. It don't matter if this is the contract year. I say it every time: Every year is a contract year. You should go out there and ball out and train like this is one of your last years to play.”

Bates ultimately couldn’t work out a long-term deal with the Bengals and left to join the Atlanta Falcons on a four-year, $64M deal last season. Higgins is in a similar boat. He has until July 15 to reach a long-term deal with the Bengals before getting locked into his one-year franchise tag number.

"Tee Higgins camp was looking for an offer that was similar to the Michael Pittman deal with the Colts..

His camp felt that the Bengals initial one time offer was so low that it couldn't even move into a conversation about guaranteed money"@KelseyLConway #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/sOE8kpOUAb
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 22, 2024

While the Bengals have made it clear they want to keep Higgins around, the star receiver said that’s only possible if the team ponies up the kind of money he’s seeking, which is reportedly similar to the three-year, $70M contract the Colts signed Michael Pittman Jr. to.

“He'll be fine,” Bates said. “He'll get his payday.”

Higgins isn't expected to sign his franchise tender anytime soon. He requested a trade out of Cincinnati earlier in the offseason.

The former second-round pick posted back-to-back 74-catch, 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and 2022. He was limited to just 42 receptions in 12 games last season due to injuries.

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