Cincinnati Bengals: The Next Moves in the Tee Higgins Saga are Obvious

According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, star Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins has yet to sign his franchise tender and he is not expected to do so by next week.

This means he will not be with the Bengals for organized team activities as he cannot be with the team until he signs. This is not out of the ordinary as the majority of players who will play on a franchise tag will follow the same steps.

The Cincinnati Bengals went through the same process with former safety Jessie Bates

Former Bengals safety Jessie Bates went through extremely similar processes as his career with the Bengals came to an end.

Bates, in a fashion similar to what Higgins will most likely do, played his final year with the Bengals on a franchise tag after not re-signing with the team. Bates also didn’t come back to the team before the season as he was ineligible.

Almost comical how play-for-play this entire situation continues to be an exact replica of what went down w/ Jessie Bates and #Bengals two years ago. Sure both sides will be happy with and expect a similar outcome.

Tee might as well buy the Bates suite for preseason game 3 now. https://t.co/gHu1tVjs5h

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) May 21, 2024

Bates then played out the season on a franchise tag before leaving the Bengals to sign with the Atlanta Falcons. Bates went on to have a career year with the Falcons in 2023 after becoming one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL.

Like Higgins, Bates had a strong connection to the team that drafted him. Both Bates and Higgins came extremely close to winning a Super Bowl with the Bengals, which makes the departure even more difficult. Bates explained how emotional the departure was in an article from The Athletic.

“I’ve been emotional about it for a long time,” Bates said. “Still numb to it. ‘Gratitude’ is the word that I can really describe about everything that happened here over my past five years. I learned so much about myself, learned so much about the game. I learned so much about Cincinnati. I’m just so thankful for everybody I ran into. Inside this building, outside this building.

“I’ve created some very special relationships that will last me a lifetime,” he continued. “And that’s all you can ask for when you come to an end of something, if you left it better than when you came in. And I think that I played a good part of that. I can’t dwell on anything because I love my teammates. Every year when s— was bad, I love them. S— was good, I love them. Like I said, I’m just thankful.”

Tee Higgins has strong connections with his Cincinnati Bengals teammates

If everything continues to follow the path of Bates, Higgins will not be with the Cincinnati Bengals come 2025.

If that is the case, one can assume it will be equally difficult for Higgins from an emotional standpoint as it is clear he has a strong connection with teammates Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.

Both Burrow and Chase vouched for Higgins to get paid by the Bengals and to stay on the team since the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Burrow on Tee Higgins https://t.co/Bz3bQXe3Ab pic.twitter.com/U7OEnLAerM

— ZIM (@zimwhodey) January 8, 2024

Chase said he wanted to make sure Higgins got his money in an article from USA Today.

Who knows how that will unfold at the end of the day,” Chase said. “We have to worry about Tee this year too, make sure bro gets his money. And on the other hand, I gotta wait for other receivers like CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson to get paid, too.”

The fact that teammates are vouching for Higgins to get paid to stay with the Bengals shows that he has built strong relationships with the team that drafted him.

The Cincinnati Bengals did not fare well after the departure of Jessie Bates and the departure of Tee Higgins could be similar

The Bengals thought they could get by with replacing Bates by using a young player from the Alabama Crimson Tide, and it appears as if they are doing the same thing with Higgins. Cincinnati drafted wide receiver Jermaine Burton in the 2024 NFL Draft and they drafted safety Jordan Battle in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Battle was part of the aggregate replacement of Bates in the secondary that did not pan out for the Bengals in 2023. Along with safeties Nick Scott and Dax Hill, the Bengals quickly became one of the worst pass defenses in the league.

Battle showed promise as one of the best rookies in the NFL, but it was not enough to keep the Bengals from falling to one of the most porous pass defenses in the NFL. The Bengals also lost safety Vonn Bell, who will be returning to Cincinnati in 2024.

With the addition of former Baltimore Ravens safety Geno Stone, the Bengals could have a chance to replace Bates in the aggregate with just one down year.

That being said, the Bengals cannot afford to be as bad as they were in the passing game in 2023. Only four teams gave up more passing yards per game than the Bengals in 2023. In 2021, the Bengals became one of the few teams to beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs because their secondary shut down Mahomes in the second half.

A departure of Higgins could result in a similar dropoff in production that the Bengals to which the Bengals front office may not give enough weight.

Get More NFL and College Football Content

For more news and trends in the college football world, click here or follow me on Twitter @KusleikaAndrew.