The New England Patriots have a talented quarterback in Drake Maye entering his second NFL season, a new and bold head coach in Mike Vrabel coming home to the organization for which he played, and more salary cap space than any other team in the league — all of which means fireworks are likely on the horizon,
Among the team’s top priorities this offseason will be to add a star wide receiver to begin building a rapport with Maye, as Vrabel rebuilds the roster in his image.
Trade discussions involving the likes of DK Metcalf and DJ Moore of the the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears, respectively, have floated around the league for the weeks — and New England owns the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft, which can facilitate that kind of a deal.
However, free agency should also present opportunities, including one involving Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals used the franchise tag to keep the former second-round pick in Cincinnati through 2025, but free agency seems the likely outcome this time around if no extension is reached before March.
On Thursday, Jan. 30, Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report predicted that Higgins and the Patriots will find their way to an agreement once free agency opens.
“Maye flashed franchise-quarterback potential as a rookie but was saddled with arguably the league’s worst receiving corps. New head coach Mike Vrabel should hope to change things quickly, and adding Higgins would be a tremendous first step,” Knox wrote. “Equipped with a league-high [$123 million] in projected cap space, New England can win any potential bidding war for Higgins’ services.”
Spotrac projects Higgins’ market value at approximately $25.4 million annually over a new four-year contract ($102 million total). Higgins has amassed 330 receptions for 4,595 receiving yards and 34 touchdown receptions in 70 games played across five NFL seasons.
