Over the past few months, the Cincinnati Bengals have made some brutal salary cap decisions including letting elite talent like defensive tackle D.J. Reader and wide receiver Tyler Boyd leave the organization. While the whole organization would have loved to keep them, the monster salary extension to quarterback Joe Burrow and the anticipated extension of wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has seriously tightened the coffers in the front office and the organization can’t afford to waste a single dollar of cap space.
Cincinnati Bengals Miss Key Deadline to Extend Superstar Playmaker
One of the toughest decisions still on the table for Cincinnati has been what to do with their talented target man wide receiver Tee Higgins. Higgins has been exception for Cincinnati since he was drafted with the 33rd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft alongside Burrow. Still, his demanded $23 million salary is simply too much for a team that will already be paying Chase top dollar. Earlier this offseason, the crisis came to a head when Higgins repeatedly demanded a trade when he complained that the front office completely neglected his contract negotiations.
In order to at least establish a temporary armistice with the superb receiver, Cincinnati applied the franchise tag in order to lock Higgins in for a one-year contract worth $21.8 million. While an excellent option to provide more time to work out a long-term contract, the franchise tag comes with plenty of restrictions and rules. One of those rules includes a deadline that a team must meet if they intend to sign a player to an extension. That deadline will pass on July 15, 2024, and according to league sources, Cincinnati and Higgins will be unable to come to an agreement by that time.
Since the team will fail to meet the deadline, Cincinnati will be unable to extend Higgins and he will officially be destined for free agency in 2025. That means that unless Cincinnati chooses to trade Higgins prior to the trade deadline this season, their only option to retain the Clemson product will be to win out over the rest of the NFL in free agency or apply a second consecutive franchise tag. While a franchise tag may be the easy option, the rules dictate that a second franchise tag must include a minimum 20% pay raise, increasing Higgins’ salary to approximately $26.2 million per season.
Higgins is a talented player but considering Chase will likely make approximately $35 million per season, $26 million per season for Higgins would cripple Cincinnati’s ability to retain talent throughout the rest of the roster. That means that with the deadline missed, it is almost guaranteed that 2024 will be Higgins’ last season with the Cincinnati Bengals. As previously reported, a meeting with Tyler Boyd earlier this week and numerous other factors indicate that he will likely sign a sizable contract with the Tennessee Titans.
Higgins has been an exceptional player in Cincinnati and fans need to hope that the organization can deliver a championship during his last season with the organization.
