The deadline for teams to utilize the franchise tag for a player has come and gone, and there are officially just two players who were designated.

Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith and Cincinnati Bengals wideout Tee Higgins were both tagged for the 2025 season.

Both teams have also said they’ll use the extra time to potentially lock down each player on a long-term deal. For Higgins, it’s the second straight season he’s been tagged.

To do so, they’ll have to work out a deal with the respective players before July 15 at 4 p.m. ET. If not, the players will hit unrestricted free agency in March 2026.

Higgins will make $26.2 million in fully guaranteed salary during the upcoming season if he plays on the tag.

While the Bengals have expressed an interest in signing Higgins long-term, that’s not the only option. Trading Higgins would free up over $26 million in cap space.

Higgins isn’t the only player the Bengals are concerned about paying. Ja’Marr Chase will almost positively break the bank, and star defender Trey Hendrickson will also be getting a raise, either in Cincinnati or elsewhere in free agency.

Joe Burrow has flat-out demanded that the team keep his top two targets Higgins and Chase, as well as the best player on defense, Hendrickson.

The Bengals, don’t have a strong history of franchise-tagging players and then extending them. In 2005 the team extended running back Rudi Johnson after tagging him. That’s it. That’s their history.