Throughout their history, the Cincinnati Bengals have been known for being a conservative organization. While that can pay off for them sometimes with how loyal they are to their players, it sometimes can backfire when they act against the wishes of their players in an effort to maintain the status quo.
Cincinnati Bengals Lose Big on Trade Value in Free Agency Window
When Cincinnati decided to slap talented wide receiver Tee Higgins with a franchise tag, the team provided a large amount of people with hope that they would lock down the fan favorite for the long haul. That hope quickly turned dread as this past week went on as the situation seemed to deteriorate quickly for the Queen City club.
To start with, Higgins publicly requested a trade on Monday when the team completely froze him out on negotiate talks for a contract extension. Higgins claimed that the team hadn’t been in communication with him at all since the franchise tag and decided that he was simply done with the organization. Logic dictates that the team had been shopping him that whole time but likely was unable to find a suitor to give in to their demands for a first-round pick. At this point, the price tag that once had been a first-round selection in the NFL Draft dropped to a likely second round pick.
After that came the incident on Friday night where Higgins’ frustration appeared to meet a head when he posted a black screen on his Instagram account set to the song “Locked Up” by Akon. Higgins would apparently realize that he acted irrationally when he took the post down minutes later but the feeling of the incident would linger with the fans that their star player was simply miserable in the given circumstances. That second-round price tag would drop down to a late second or even a third-round pick.
Fast forward to Sunday when the New England Patriots (the team that most people have decided are the most likely to pull the trigger on the trade) went out and signed former Vikings wide receiver K.J. Osborn. Osborn may not be the same caliber of player that Higgins is but that doesn’t change that the most desperate team on the market was able to find a replacement for the Cincinnati product. That asking price officially hit rock bottom and is not a sure third round pick or even a forth rounder.
After the events of the last week, Cincinnati may be completely out of the driver’s seat in this situation as the team will definitely not trade Higgins for anything less than a third-round pick (some would say first round). If no one will ante up draft capital that fits the demands of Cincinnati, it is likely that Higgins will be stuck on the roster in 2024. While many fans will be happy about that, nothing good ever came from forcing a player to play for a team that he didn’t want to and it is entire possible that Higgins will hold out a portion of the season in protest.
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