Will the Bengals put their money where their mouth is and keep this offense together for the long term?
The Cincinnati Bengals and Tee Higgins have had a long, drawn-out contract saga.
It goes back to last year when they franchise-tagged Higgins without any intention of trying to extend him to a long-term contract. They tagged him again this offseason with the hopes of doing exactly that after no young wide receiver has stepped up to look like a compliment to Ja’Marr Chase.
Now, Higgins is holding all the cards in negotiations. His agent and he knows Joe Burrow have pushed for him to be taken care of and given a contract to keep him around. He also just played on the franchise tag, and there is no way to keep him from the open market next season.
While they likely could have had Higgins sign a contract with an APY closer to $23 or $25 million last year they likely have to get to that $30 million mark this offseason with the way the market is going.
Higgins and the Bengals haven’t had the best time getting to a point of agreement, and the franchise has also fumbled negotiations with Chase.
The question now is whether this deal will get done. The sooner they can the sooner they can get the roughly $26 million against the cap reduced that the franchise tag brings. That creates room for more possible moves, so it’s really a win-win for both sides.
Will the Bengals get the deal done? Sound off in the poll below and in the comments section!
