A breakdown of how what the Bengals could keep Tee Higgins as NFL free agency nears.
The Cincinnati Bengals want to keep wide receiver Tee Higgins in their building for a long time. That has been made clear by head coach Zac Taylor, franchise quarterback Joe Burrow, and star receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
How they go about doing that, however, could be one of five options: A long-term extension, an exclusive franchise tag, a non-exclusive franchise tag, a transition tag, or a tag and trade.
Let’s take a look at their options:
Long-Term Contract Extension
Simply put, this is the desired outcome for all parties involved. As soon as the Bengals’ season ended, Higgins’ 2024 franchise tag expired, and he became eligible to sign a new contract with the Bengals. The two sides could come to an agreement at any time.
Exclusive Franchise Tag
This is what the Bengals signed Higgins to last offseason. This means Higgins would not be able to negotiate with other teams on the open market. The salary on that tag is an average of the five highest salaries for a player at the position, or 120% of Higgins’ prior year’s salary, whichever is highest.
Of course, if the Bengals choose to tag Higgins, they will have a window until July 15th, when they can still negotiate a long-term extension. After that deadline, Higgins would be subject to play on another one-year contract, which is projected to be worth $26,179,200.
Non-Exclusive Franchise Tag
This isn’t as often used, but one of the more recent non-exclusive tags we saw was the one the Baltimore Ravens placed on Lamar Jackson before signing him to an extension. Essentially, this means Higgins could negotiate with other teams like a free agent, but the Bengals would have five days to match any offers and retain Higgins’ services. If the Bengals chose not to match the offer, the team that signs Higgins would owe the Bengals two first-round picks.
Transition Tag
Even more rare, the transition tag is a salary that is the average of the top 10 players at the position, but the 120% provision applies like in the exclusive tag. This would give the Bengals the right of first refusal to match any offer sheets, but they wouldn’t get any draft compensation if they declined to match the offer.
Tag and Trade
The Bengals could franchise tag Higgins with the hope of trading him. If they were to place the tag on Higgins, they would be able to trade him to the highest bidder, provided that the team trading for Higgins’ services would sign him to a long-term extension. This could happen any time in the window between when Higgins is tagged and the deadline for a long-term deal closes. The Bengals would essentially name their price to any teams inquiring.
The hope is that the Bengals can come to an agreement with Higgins while also extending Chase this offseason, but if that can’t happen, the Bengals should look at how to get as much return on Higgins as possible.
