As recently as a few weeks ago, there was optimism that elite Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins would be dressing up in the orange and black after the team applied the franchise tag last week. On Monday of this week, those plans took a serious hit when Higgins “requested” a trade. Requested is in quotation marks because even now, Cincinnati radio hosts are trying to be positive and saying that the difference between requested versus demanded means that the star playmaker will be on the sideline at Paycor Stadium next season.
Cincinnati Bengals Star Wide Receiver Blasts the Team on Social Media
Unfortunately for the team, Higgins recently made his opinion known when he made a not-so-cryptic story on his Instagram account. Even though Higgins clearly realized he made an emotional mistake and deleted the story, it was picked up by twitter users and shared afterward. Below is a recording of the video.
— Drake Burton (@bengalsdrake) March 15, 2024
While the black screen may be a little confusing, Higgins is playing the song “Locked Up” by Akon. Clearly, that is the way Higgins is interpreting the way the team is treating him on the franchise tag.
Higgins requested the trade on Monday after he made it expressed that after the announcement of the franchise tag, no one from the Cincinnati front office had reached out to him regarding a contract extension. Regardless of whether the team planned to keep Higgins or not, the simple lack of communication has been a major source of contention for Cincinnati over the past few seasons.
In the 2017 NFL free agency window, Cincinnati made a similar mistake regarding the contract of long-time All-Pro offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth. While he was a lifetime Bengal and a huge fan favorite, Whitworth expressed the feeling that he had been disrespected by owner Mike Brown and the rest of the front office. Whitworth had been one of the best players on the roster for over a decade after being drafted by the team in 2006.
While Higgins’ tweet doesn’t provide much hope, many fans including myself wish that he’d stay for a long time in Cincinnati. While I doubt it is possible under the current salary cap demands, Higgins has been a part of the dramatic turnaround in Cincinnati and fans should avoid judging his actions too harshly. While the instagram story wasn’t his best decision, Higgins has been an elite player under head coach Zac Taylor and he should be remembered fondly when he does inevitably leave the team either this offseason or in 2025.
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