The Bengals know that keeping Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins together won’t be easy—or rather, cheap. It’s easy enough to write up the contracts, but another matter to account for them against the salary cap. Still, reporter Paul Dehner Jr. argues that is what the Bengals need to do—for the good of the team.
Writing for The Athletic, Dehner argues that, “in a vacuum, moving on from Higgins is the correct football move”. The only problem is that the Bengals don’t exist in a vacuum, nor does Burrow, their franchise quarterback. Burrow, who has already cashed in, has been as forceful an advocate for his teammates as any could ask. And the rest of the locker room is watching after seeing Higgins play good soldier and sacrifice for the team.
Higgins “handled a challenging situation off the field admirably and with his teammates in mind, he took his game to the next level and solidified himself to be about everything this organization claims to be about”, Dehner writes of the receiver the Bengals drafted in conjunction with Joe Burrow in 2020.
The 33rd-overall pick that year after drafting Burrow first overall, Tee Higgins is a consistent producer when healthy. Over five years, he has 330 catches for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns. Despite missing five games last season, he still caught 73 passes for 910 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns, affirming his rapport with Burrow in the Bengals’ offense.
“Even if the Bengals agree letting Higgins walk is the most efficient path to a complete team on paper, now is the time to value everything else”, Dehner argued. Here he references Joe Burrow and the rest of the locker room. They all saw how they handled his situation, and they know they can be in his shoes.
Higgins has already walked down that path. He watched the Bengals play hardball with Jessie Bates, and he ended up leaving. He doesn’t want to leave—who wouldn’t want to play with Joe Burrow—but he also deserves his payday. And you want your players to believe you are willing to reward the good guys who do the right thing.
The thing is, even with Burrow paid up, the Bengals still have Ja’Marr Chase’s deal to complete before worrying about Tee Higgins. Yet they don’t have even that luxury, because Higgins will hit free agency in March. It’s unlikely they will tag him again, which earmarks $26,179,200 in cap space until they work out a new deal.
The last thing the Bengals want, Dehner argues, is to let this situation linger. Put a smile on Joe Burrow’s face, he says, but giving Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins reasons to smile. If they want to make ruthless “for the good of the team” decisions, do that by trading Trey Hendrickson. It’s never a bad thing, after all, to have too many very good wide receivers. The Steelers wish they had the Bengals’ problem.
