One of the biggest questions over the course of this offseason was whether or not Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins would be with the team next season. The Clemson product has reportedly been angry about the organization’s lack of motivation to extend him to a long-term contract. After the announcement to franchise tag the star on the first day of the free agency window, Higgins let his frustrations loose by requesting a trade from the team that drafted him with the 33rd pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Cincinnati Bengals Fans Should Not Be Fooled By Headline
As of this moment, the story that everyone is talking about is the interview that Higgins gave during his youth football camp on Sunday morning. The star wideout went on record and said that he “loves Cincinnati more than he thought he would” and that he “expects to be with the team next season”. The full interview is listed below.
Tee Higgins says he anticipates playing for the Bengals in 2024 pic.twitter.com/JJszOukQNs
— Faux Joey Brrr (@FauxJeaux) April 14, 2024
While the interview is certainly positive for the organization, fans need to dramatically lower their expectations. This is a player who has clearly made a habit of playing with the fans on social media in order to achieve his career goals. A perfect example of that is the Instagram post he made last month alluding to the organization holding him prisoner over his contract negotiations. That being said, do you think that the place he was going to air his grievances is going to be at his youth football camp in Cincinnati?
The best part of the interview from Higgins is that it provides the team with some negotiating power when it comes to trading the elite target man. With the bad press he has given the team over the past few weeks, other organizations aren’t necessarily knocking down the door to trade for a player who doesn’t even want to be here anyway. This interview provides the team with some stability weeks ahead of the NFL Draft when the team is going to be most likely to deal Higgins for draft capital.
Even though everyone is rightfully worried about Higgins’ contract situation, this is just a precursor of what is going to happen with All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in another two years. The market for wide receivers has gone off the rails and a frugal team like Cincinnati doesn’t want to pay top dollar for a position that they don’t see as absolutely essential. Now that Tyler Boyd is gone as well, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to contract negotiations with wide receivers. It is very possible that the whole situation will implode sooner rather than later.
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