The Tee Higgins contract saga has reportedly come to an end. At least for the 2024 season.
By NFL Network’s Ian RapoportHiggins and the Cincinnati Bengals will not reach an agreement on a long-term extension before Monday’s deadline to do so. That means the fifth-year wide receiver will play out next season on the franchise tag and become a free agent in 2025 — unless, of course, the Bengals place another franchise tag on him next offseason.
That’s an unlikely scenario given the escalations built into the collective bargaining agreement for players who have been tagged with the tag multiple times. Higgins is due to receive $21.8 million for the tag in 2024. If the Bengals were to tag him again in 2025, he would be given a minimum 20% raise on his $21.8 million salary, which adds up to roughly $26.2 million.
But for the 2024 season, Higgins’ services are locked in Cincinnati. He signed the franchise tag that eclipses the average annual value of his four-year rookie contract that has paid him $25.9 million since joining the Bengals as a second-round pick in the 2020 draft.
That, at least, is good news for a Bengals team looking to bounce back from a poor season in which they missed the playoffs after two consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game, one that resulted in a Super Bowl berth. The 2025 campaign will be a high-stakes season for both the Bengals and Higgins.
Higgins has been the second option on one of the best wide receiver tandems in football, playing alongside All-Pro Ja’Marr Chase. He’s also coming off the worst season of his career, an injury-plagued campaign in which the Bengals’ entire offense took several steps backward while quarterback Joe Burrow battled injuries before his season was ended by a wrist injury that required surgery.
After totaling at least 906 yards and six touchdowns in each of his first three NFL seasons, Higgins recorded 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns while playing in 12 games in 2023. The Bengals are counting on a bounce-back campaign to get back into title contention, and Higgins is a big part of that equation. If Higgins and the Bengals get back in shape, Higgins could command a significant payday in the long run and could be considered by some suitors as a No. 1 receiving target.
Obviously, the Bengals would benefit from securing Higgins and Chase long-term as Burrow’s primary weapons. But Chase is set to receive a long-term extension at the end of his rookie contract and is the top priority for Cincinnati’s front office. In a league where the contract market for wide receivers remains hot, the prospects of signing Higgins to a long-term deal next offseason are even more difficult in Cincinnati.