The 2024 season has come and gone and the Cincinnati Bengals are in offseason mode after missing the playoffs yet again. Last offseason, all eyes were on the Bengals and how they planned on attacking the contract situations of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The team picked up Chase’s fifth-year option, naturally. Reports surfaced that the team and Chase’s camp were not close on an extension.

Whatever happens with the 2024 Triple Crown winner will likely influence what happens with Higgins as a result. After a less-than-ideal negotiation period between the fifth-year player out of Clemson and the Bengals, the team placed the Franchise Tag on Higgins. For 2025, after Higgins proved his worth with 911 yards and 10 touchdowns off 73 receptions in 12 games, the team will be looking to retain his services.

Joe Burrow certainly wants Higgins to stick around. On numerous occasions, he’s either alluded to the situation or outright mentioned Higgins’ situation. The last thing the team wants to do is alienate the franchise quarterback by allowing his WR2 walk. Cincinnati has been burnt on allowing the likes of Andrew Whitworth, Kevin Zeitler, Jessie Bates, and D.J. Reader to hit free agency in their respective times.

With Higgins set to be one of, if not the best free agents on the market this spring, the Bengals must make a decision on his future. Will they successfully re-sign him? How about a second Franchise Tag? Or, and most unpopular of all, will they let him walk and reap that compensatory pick?

Cincinnati Bengals Expected to Run it Back With Star Receiver in 2025

Ideally, Cincinnati is able to re-sign Higgins. When he and Chase are on the field together, it opens up the offense. Burrow was able to lead the NFL in yards, touchdowns, and completions thanks to the duo. Defenses have to focus on stopping the elite passing attack and having two top-end receivers makes things much, much easier.

With the salary cap exponentially increasing, and the franchise beginning to change how it does things, extending Chase and re-signing Higgins remains within the realm of possibilities.

Under the tag, Higgins was paid $21.8 million this year. Spotrac‘s market value for Higgins predicts him to make around $20.9 million per year for five years. Higgins moved on from his previous agent, David Mulugheta, and is now represented by the same agents as Chase.

Re-signing the star Bengals receiver is the best-case scenario. Is it the most likely scenario?

Spotrac Predicts a Second Tag

Of the two scenarios of bringing Higgins back, a second Franchise Tag seems most likely. According to Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti, the Bengals will not be able to get Higgins back under contract and will tag him again, kicking off a potential holdout:

Prediction: The Bengals slap a 2nd franchise tag on Tee Higgins, which comes in at $26.18M for the 2025 season, setting up a holdout battle with the 25-year-old. Higgins signs the tag before the start of the season, and the band gets back together one last time.

Making sure Higgins stays in Cincinnati is ideal…but for $26.1 million on the Franchise Tag? At that point, the Bengals would be smarter to just extend him to soften the blow to the salary cap.

Higgins, like Chase, has only gotten more expensive as the team waits. Perhaps the team will use Higgins’ often unavailability against him. Considering he’s been out for 10 games over the last two years, the team could see that as a negative. The best ability is availability, of course.

At the same time, Higgins’ impact on the field, when he’s actually on the field, cannot be understated. Despite having Chase on the opposite side of the field, Higgins averaged nearly 76 yards per game with a pair of 100-yard performances. In Week 17 in a must-win game against the Denver Broncos, Higgins stepped up for 131 yards – his 14th 100-yard game – and three touchdowns.

Chase and Higgins have proven that they are one of the best one-two punches in the NFL. It can certainly be argued that they are the best one-two punch in Bengals receiver history. Keeping Higgins in Cincinnati has to be a priority for Duke Tobin and the Bengals’ front office.