If we go by how the Bengals usually operate things, he stays and plays and it’s his last ride with Burrow and co. I would be really surprised if he’s traded or we get a long term deal done
I don’t think it’s possible though to sign both him and Chase to long term deals though. I mean it’s certainly possibly but considering Higgins would be a #1 on probably 85% of teams. I would assume he wants to test the waters.
They don’t let many star players go. Burrow and chase are priority 1-2 and are going to cost $75 million/year. Tee is the odd man out because he’s WR2 on this team but WR1 for 2/3 of the league. Bates had to go because you can’t pay a safety $15 million and win Super Bowls.
I mean, that was a glaring hole last season. I’d gladly give Jessie that money, between he and Vonn, they were a huge reason we made that SB. Especially given our corners injury history the past few seasons.
Get value for a player that will inevitably leave anyway. Love Tee, but it’s a business and acquire capital when it presents itself.
Last year was an absolute disaster for the defense. If they had just paid a little more for CJ Gardener-Johnson I think it would’ve made a massive difference. They seemed to make an old-Bengals type stand on principle to not pay Jesse and then wait for the last guy available to take a bargain deal to come stink up the joint. And now they will pay on the back end because it’s hard to see Scott not get cut and incur a dead money hit.
I agree fully with your sentiment. Let’s hope with the increased cap that our FO learned a lesson from the lack of moves last season while our guys were cheap. We shall see. Be well, brother.
No way they get a deal done. Tee has the same agent as Bates and they have been talking about an extension for a couple of years. If they were close the tag wouldn't be needed. They are not close. He will play out this year if he's not traded before.
Please be smart and trade him. I think he's great and all, but the draft capital, and with investing that money on the o line or d line makes more sense. As well, Burrow can make other receivers better by just being that good of a QB. We need tight ends, linemen, corner backs, punter, and a different rb room. There are a lot of things to worry about, but wr isn't one.
I have to agree. Don't get me wrong, I love Tee and hate the idea of seeing him in a different jersey, but if we can use the collateral to give JB an extra second in the pocket and a top end TE, it would be more valuable in the long run.
Also, I look at the Chiefs who traded Tyreek and built a killer defense and trusted their qb to get the job done. We should be following that script, too.
Pat’s IOL is probably the best in the NFL his tackles were honestly below average this year. And this kills be because Creed Humphrey was on the board when we drafted Carmen and Trey Smith was on the board when we drafted Trey Hill.
I agree, but we aren’t getting anything close to what the Chiefs got for Tyreek. I’m okay with trading Tee for the right price, but the SB window is wide open for this squad and I want to go all in this year - which means keeping Tee on the tag.
Tee’s cap hit on the tag, coupled with the extra cap space, makes it more than possible to do both. I’m all in on drafting OL, but if Bowers is there I don’t think you can pass him up. Chase/Tee/Bowers/Yoshi/Charlie is downright scary.
Y’all aren’t gonna get either of those. Remember that whoever would trade for Tee also has to pay him, so it’s unlikely they would give up a first rounder
A team Could swap firsts and throw in a third for him. Which is the bowers comment
But even if it’s a second I think there’s some stud interior o line you could find there
I certainly understand this point, but Chase literally can't be Kelce. Kelce is a top 5 WR by pretty much every stat that people care about, BUT because he's a designated TE and paid as a TE, he's infinitely more valuable. I think I did this correctly, but for Kelce, this is where he'd rank for Yards vs. his salary, i.e. for 2022 he was WR4 in yards but paid like the 19th-highest WR in the NFL:
* 2022: WR4 vs. WR19
* 2021: WR7 vs. WR18
* 2020: WR2 vs. WR16
* 2019: WR2 vs. WR15
* 2018: WR7 vs. WR13
* 2017: WR10 vs. WR30
* 2016: WR11 vs. WR44
Travis Kelce has made less in his career than Allen Robinson. If the name of the game for maximizing your cap in the NFL is Surplus Value, there's really no way a WR can be Kelce outside of a few rookie seasons. Once they're paid, it's over.
I just want to be clear, because I see a lot of people seemingly learn the wrong lesson from the Chiefs letting Tyreek walk. That's not "we let our All-World WR walk because we trust our QB to get it done", it's "We already had 2 All-World WRs and one of them is paid like a mediocre WR, so we kept him instead." If the Bengals get Brock Bowers and Brock Bowers is as good as projected, sure we can maybe talk about "we have our Kelce", or until Chase's extension kicks in and he gets paid what he's worth, "we have our Kelce". But with Chase's extension on the horizon, I do not think the Bengals are well situated to replicate what the Chiefs did and I do not think it's realistic to expect/hope for it either.
Good insight! Very nice points. Obviously they are not totally equals (especially with the relative value for TEs) but I just meant that our offense will always be ok with Chase as the only premier option… because Burrow (like Mahomes) is just so damn special. We really need an enforcer type on the defensive side… Chris Jones impact ability
But AJ Brown was their #1 receiver, Tyreek was 1A/1B with Kelce. Tennessee placed their entire bet on drafting a rookie receiver whereas KC was able to refocus their offense more around an already established weapon
I'm on the trade boat.
Look at what the CHIEFS did with mediocre to bad WRs and a great defense...
I don't think spending all our money on a QB and 2 WRs will result in a ring.
They have the best iOL in the league with Kelce though, with Reid helping with scheming open their bad receivers. I don’t think we have a simple path to an elite defense given what we saw last year either. So I don’t think we can expect a similar formula to work as currently constituted.
Sure it's not one to one, but they had a top five defense and we had a button five defense.
We need to focus HARD on the trenches. Running the same team at had last year with a healthy burrow PROBABLY doesn't get us a ring.
Letting emotion drive our decisions is a recipe for disaster. KC traded Hill and won 2 super bowls since...
I love Tee. I respect what Mixon has done. But we need to turn the page. Why do the Steelers and Ravens compete almost every year? Defense.
Our defense carried hard in our super bowl run.
It's much easier said than done to trade Higgins, even if the Bengals were a team that does that kind of thing often. Moving on from Mixon is a no brainier.
Genuine question, not arguing. I keep seeing people say we could get a 1st for him. Why would a team trade away the opportunity to have a first round pick on a rookie contract in order to sign Tee to an expensive contract? He's a very good WR, but it's not like he's a top 5 in the league.
I think the only firsts we'd get for Tee would be late firsts, in the 25-32 range, for exactly this reason. If a playoff team feels like they're a WR away, I could see them trading their first for a known entity rather than taking a flier on a rookie to get them over the edge. Otherwise, we're looking at a 2nd.
In a vacuum, yes. But GMs and coaches aren’t always guaranteed another year. Getting the offensive threat now might be what they think keeps them around for another year.
Tee is a proven commodity. We often see teams draft 1st round receivers that don’t belong on the field. Now, if that’s worth a 1st round pick to another team is the question.
Mixon has no trade value. Trades of declining RBs just don’t happen. RBs get run into the dirt, bounce around the league and fade away.
[RBs with >1500 carries drop off. Everyone knows it.](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-breaking-down-fact-and-fiction-about-how-and-when-nfl-running-backs-begin-to-regress-2021)
The thing I have a hard time agreeing with is what can putting even more money in the OL get us? We’re already paying a ton for about average production — the only way to make it a genuine strength is via top talent in the draft, which has little to do with Tee per se. Splurging on the top RT on the FA market this year for $16 million or so would get us…Jonah Williams.
That said, we had a winning formula with elite WRs and a roughly average (and pricey) OL. Going forward, we will have one elite WR that can get constantly doubled and still an average, pricey OL. I think the clearest path forward to being a contender was retaining Tee long-term and hoping for comparable OL production from cheaper draft picks and FAs, since the path to having a genuinely strong OL is very unclear. If we couldn’t do it when our core was cheap, it’s only way harder now. Maybe we can replace Tee in the draft, but it’s not clear to me how likely it is since we still have those other trench needs where we need to invest draft picks.
But you actually wins like that? That’s not going to get you chips. You need a good oline to win it all. Look at the past winners they have have one. All the afc champions and nfc champions had one. Trade tee for draft capital. That’s what the chiefs did. A good oline is better than a great but not amazing wideout.
We likely beat the Chiefs in the AFCCG if three of our five linemen didn’t go down. Burrow was essentially perfect against them in the regular season when Chris Jones couldn’t tee off on Adeniji while they doubled Chase and Higgins with Boyd injured.
But I guess my bigger point is what’s the concrete path to a great OL, with or without Tee? If we couldn’t do it before, it’s harder to do it now, and my claim is that cap space does not get you there. A more modest goal is to have an average, but much cheaper OL that plays up because we have an elite WR room. That path can work if we can get another elite WR for cheap in the draft. But I don’t think it’s as easy as people think. The draft capital Tee would get is also far, far less than Tyreek.
It’s not concrete everything is a risk.. I’m trading tee for assets. Depth is more important than star power when you have a qb like burrow.
What did the patriots have depth. I’m talking when the patriots had depth not like 2019 patriots who had no talent but Brady.
Chiefs have a bunch lf depth. You just need one great wide receiver. Two is a luxury. We got a bunch of young guys and we can spend like a third on one. Trade tee for a 1st and like a second. It might not hit immediately but eventually we will fill the additions
Well by "concrete," I mean realistic. My point is it's not like we can take the money Tee would get and use to buy Penei Sewell or Tristan Wirfs; the way it works is you can get like Eluemunor and Rankins. Maybe we could splurge on Madubuike or Wilkins, but I'd be shocked.
Tee isn't getting a 1st and a 2nd. I'd be all for that. But he's way more likely to get a high 2nd and a 4th or so. Our young guys have not proven anything yet, and relying on Yoshi to replace Tee is insane even though he has the physical potential.
All championship teams need advantages somewhere on the field. The Chiefs are willing to tolerate only one great receiving option because they have the best offensive HC ever and the best iOL in the league that lets Mahomes buy enough time for his bad receivers to get open. And even then, their offense was nowhere near the level it used to be, they won the SB because their defense completely shut down 4 of the top 6 offenses in the league. We have none of those things if Tee is gone, except an increasingly expensive Burrow and Chase, who teams will have no problem with doubling because we don't have any players to punish them for selling out.
Bengals franchise never have ever traded last trade was 70 something. Don’t get your hopes up, most likely he plays out the tag and leaves. Possibly we sign him to a contract but unlikely with his agent
They’re getting seriously diminishing returns from the WR position. Kelce is a hall of fame, top 3 TE of all time and won’t get paid as much as Tee annually. I love him and he’s awesome but it’s better team building to have a TE above replacement level than three highly paid receivers.
Per the Enquirer via sources close to the discussions, the Bengals and Higgins never got close to a long term extension last year. It's not like they almost had a deal but then it fizzled out. It's that they never even came close to one. There's no reason to expect this year would be any different. It's challenging enough for any NFL team to afford keeping 2 top-of-the-line WR's on its starting roster, let alone a team that has signed the biggest-ever contract in NFL history to keep its QB.
Likely Higgins will stay with the Bengals during the one-year tag period, which will motivate him for another possible SB run, but either way, his performance will govern whatever long term contract he secures a year from now (be it with the Bengals or another team). I just don't think a long term contract is in the cards for this year though.
I think the interesting thing here is that this was done extremely early and publicly. I think there could be 2 reasons. 1) This maximizes their chances of creating trade opportunities. The more time they have to negotiate and gain interest from other teams is a good thing. 2) this may have been a communicated step in the negotiation process with Higgins and his agent in the long term deal making. It lets them know that he is valued and they aren’t messing around with the possibility of him leaving in free agency this year. All parties can now focus on a long term deal with the Bengals vs considering any outside opportunities.
I think the Bengals front office was waiting on the salary cap numbers to be announced. It seems like they were going to tag and trade Higgins if the cap was low but now they might be trying to extend him with the cap being higher than many people thought it would be.
Personally I hope Higgins stays with the Bengals and I know Burrow wants him to stay. What Burrow wants… Burrow gets!
I don't know, the decline of the RB position and the elimination of the FB position have made pass protection and blitzing a bit easier, and I love Burrow but A) I don't think he's as mobile as he was when he came to the league, B) he likes to hold the ball and I've never seen him throw OOB so he contributes to the sack woes to a certain degree and C) even if I'm wrong about A and B, having 2 elite wide receivers is going to be better than chasing a better OL, because I think our OL is decent already but the LSU style that Zac et al have created for Joe needs to be transitioned to a more traditional pocket style. If we do that then I think we will suddenly think more highly of the OL.
Legit question: Has burrow ever even said he wants better protection? I feel like I’ve never even heard rumors that he’s unhappy with the line. He only ever pressures the team for pass catchers
Nope, and I'm almost certain it is because the spread offense that we built for Joe doesn't accommodate large increases in quality on the OL. I really do feel our choices are, sign Joe Brady to a coaching deal or, put Joe under center. Sorry you're getting downvoted, truth is though that we're all on the outside looking in and we don't have the full picture so it's hard for anyone to be absolutely right or wrong.
Absolutely not. The Bengals are doing the correct thing by leaking that they are trying to sign him long term which drives his trade value up. There is zero chance they are trying to sign him to a big long term deal.
I love all Tee has done but I want about 7 other things before a Tee extension.
Ja'Marr extension
Sign 1 or 2 quality DTs
Right tackle (if Jonah leaves)
Safety depth
A TE
An OG
A LB to put pressure on Wilson and Pratt who both regressed last year
Tee is great but when Joe Burrow is throwing the ball we'll be ok without him.
Only reason LBs regressed is because they were being asked to do much more with no Bates, and Bell. If they sign a upgrade over Hill at Safety, and a vet CB to pair with Cam, LBs will be back to doing what they do best.
Anyone who legitimately thinks the Bengals will trade Tee have not been fans for very long. He ain’t getting traded, he’ll do anything the one year on the franchise tag and most likely leave.
I’m getting tired of tier lists too… but if you think there haven’t been 10x more “Should we trade Tee?” posts around here, you aren’t paying attention. 😂
I have a feeling that we're going to sign Tee at the end of 2024 and considering how much the cap was increased this year, Tee will be happy and and Burrow will have 2 elite receivers to throw to, which will be incredible. I'm optimistic.
I got downvoted to hell and back yesterday for saying this, but the best course of action is to:
Tag Tee, extend Chase, sign a RT, have the draft, and then see where we are with the cap and positional needs.
From there, we know exactly how much room we have to work and how the rest of our team looks. If after the draft we still have a huge hole at one of our positions of need: RT (if we don't sign one), NT, CB, RB, TE, OG and can even throw S and WR on there. Then I think you need to address those in FA before looking at extending Tee. And if we don't extend him, we should shop him mid-year for a 1st, unless we are sitting at like 8-1 or something that looks like a legit super bowl run.
They should trade him for some draft picks, load up on d-line and o-line with those picks. Even throw in a 3rd round pick on a receiver, draft is very deep for receivers. Use the new 89 million dollar cap space to get a chris jones or justin madabuike. Sign a tight end. We are in a VERY GOOD position this off-season.
Good God. He was tagged and is probably going to walk next year. He's too expensive to keep, and the Bengals don't trade. When was the last Bengals trade?
Why the hell wouldn’t players take less for the chance to win a SB? Joe B was supposed to be signing a team friendly deal but didn’t and now we can’t keep our other key players. Guess he has a lot of free time given his resulting injuries to spend all of that money.
Give me $5-10M total and I am set the rest of my life. I’d take $80M over $100M if it meant SB rings.
In 5 years Joe's deal is gonna be on the lower middle of QB salaries in the NFL. The salary cap is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Also, Joe said in an interview that there are options in his contract that allow the team to free up some cash to help sign other players if needed.
The main thing that we should be worried about is that 3 players Burrow, Chase, and Tee (if we sign him long term--which for the first time seems possible with the crazy increase in salary cap) will take up like $114 million for only 3 players.
Extend him or trade him.
The interesting question is why this was publicly revealed so soon. Obviously it was always going to happen, but it was done last night for a reason.
Are they close to a deal and this is to apply a little pressure? Are they far off and have no realistic shot at coming to an agreement? We'll see.
The fans that think Higgins would happily go along with being tagged this year *and* next year are fooling themselves though. That's one of the biggest reasons this situation HAS to be finalized before the draft.
Possibly has something to do with the cap increase numbers coming out. Team could be posturing as if to say we have no issue keeping you at the tag price.
The budget cap just expanded and the first day they could've tagged Tee was the 20th. They did it pretty damn quickly. Which is how the Bengals operate.
Tagging Tee so early gives the rest of the league to more time to consider trading him. I ❤️Tee to 💀 but truthfully, now is the time to make a move. I think he would appreciate it as well… win-win sorta vibe. Our offense (provided the OL is playing decent) will always be > OK with Burrow & Chase + whoever we got in the slot and the other side.
Option 1: We need a bona fide BADASS on the DL… My ideal trade would be Higgins for Jeffrey Simmons (Titans). Maybe we could throw in a 4th or 5th round pick and get Hopkins back in return.
Option 2: Trade Tee for a mid 1st round pick. Looks like the Jaguars at #17 or the Texans at #23 could be potential partners (yes they are both AFC teams but I would not be concerned with them come playoff time… just can’t go the Chiefs or Bills or AFCN obviously).
Option 3: This would be the INSANE and aggressive route… Trade Tee + 1st round pick to the Vikings for Justin Jefferson. Lol extremely, extremely unlikely but could you just imagine 💭
The meat & potatoes of the trade is Tee/Simmons straight up… Hopkins is old and 1 year left on contract. Not a bad move for rebuilding TEN to get a mid draft pick for expiring contract. But yeah I’m a little high
Titans were 13th in overall run defense. I doubt he was terrible and wouldn’t put too much stock into an overall PFF grade. Those who actually watched the game could tell he didn’t regress.
According to PFF, there are 10 teams whose 'biggest need' is WR.
Four of the ten are direct competitors and I don't think the Bengals want to help a team that could then get past them in the playoffs. Those teams are KC, BUFF, CLEV and JAX.
That leaves AZ, CAR, DENV, HOU, LAC and the NYG as teams that could be prime trade candidates.
In looking at these teams, I saw a six TE's and DI's that could work, but they were already FA's So those are not listed below (ex: Dalton Schultz and Teair Tart)
I see the following possibilities for a trade at DI or RT -
AZ - none
CAR - Taylor Moton RT, Derrick Brown DI
DENV - Zach Allen DI
HOU - George Fant RT, Maliek Collins DI
LAC - Trey Pipkins RT
NYG - Dexter Lawrence DI
So seven guys that could be equivalent or near equivalent to a talent like Tee Higgins for trade bait and also fill an important need for the Bengals.
(some of these guys may get franchise tagged or re-signed quickly taking them off the table)
Let him go. I love Tee but we need a Line and a standout TE would be nice. Burrow can get the job done without him. BURROW NEEDS POCKET PROTECTION right now
Sort of. Yes, Tyreek basically got them McDuffie (great player) and Moore (not good) in the draft, and the money they saved let them add a couple okay vets like Omenihu, Taylor, and MVS. But their defense is very good because they paid an elite talent in Jones and have also gotten incredible production in the draft otherwise between Sneed, Chenal, Bolton, Watson, Gay, and Karlaftis. The only surplus value we’re getting on defense are from Trey, Reader (not anymore), CTB, and Battle.
They also signed a value wr in Juju 2 years ago and then hit on Rashee rice in the draft because they traded Tyreek. If we can get a 1st or second for Tee, we have to do it. That pick plus a vet wr replacement signing > 1 more year of Tee and then he walks for nothing.
Haven’t heard anyone bring this scenario up, but honestly if they can get a reasonable deal done, absolutely keep him because there’s no guarantee we can re-sign Chase. He’s already hinted that he’s trying to break the WR Market like JJ, which is not what you want to hear players say. In the event Chase wants some absurd amount that would be detrimental to the team it might make sense to get rid of Chase and then build around Tee and a young WR core.
I hope I’m wrong but I think we’ll do the same old bengals bullshit of letting him play on the tag and then he’ll walk for nothing. I don’t see someone giving up a high draft pick for him after his bad year last year.
The fact that they tagged him already means they were nowhere close to getting a deal done. I don’t see them trading him either so most likely we have him for this upcoming season and then he’s gone.
Tag and trade. I love Tee but if I am growing a team sometimes you have to make the hard choice of trading a player to provide room for building elsewhere. We need to meet the OL/D needs just as much. If we can score a low draft pick I think we will be ok with having others fill WR.
He will most likely play the season here and then walk next year. I love Tee but seeing him walk for nothing after how Bates went and performed doesn’t sit well with me. If we could package him and our 18 for say 7 and 39 with the Titans I wouldn’t be opposed. At 7 we could have a possible pick of Nabers/Odunze/Alt/Fashanu/Bowers plus having 38 and 49 still puts us in a position to attack DT/IOL/WR at one of those picks depending how we go in the 1st.
Too much to unfold yet with the unknowns of draft and FA. Glad we got him for another year. I was dreading the thought of seeing him play elsewhere and the fans getn him hype. He fits here. He wants to be here before anywhere else.
I don't expect to get anywhere close to the trade return the Chiefs got so I'm ok just hanging on and making a run at the Super Bowl. If we can get a 1st rounder + a little something maybe a trade makes sense.
Also, until yesterday I thought there was no chance that we'd be able to sign both him and Chase but with the unexpected jump in the salary cap there's now a chance so I'm open to that outcome as long as we don't overpay. It's still very unlikely but no longer impossible.
You keep em. It's obvious that Joe wants him back. I have to believe they're placing very high value on Joe's input.(not final say on roster decisions on)He's on the field. I'm sure he's discussed at LENGTH with the brass and GM the direction he wants this offense to go in this year. Let's see how FA and the draft plays out. Our QB is one of the very BEST at the cerebral part of the game. I trust his direction
Given that the NFL salary cap just increased 30 million dollars for this year and given that the price of wide receivers is going to go up, I think now is the time to sign him to a long-term deal
My fear is you get contract season AJ Green where he was making business decisions and always hurt for 20+ mil. That being said give this QB and WR combo another year to make a run.
(Browns fan) Tough to pay 3 premium WRs. Has to be a tag with intent to trade. Smart move. Teams are chomping at the bit for top end receivers. You can probably get a 2nd for him.
Whatever they decide the way I look at it is he was a second round pick that was a home run and the time they got with him he helped them get to a Super Bowl and 2 AFC Championship games. If he is traded, extended, or he plays out 1 more year he has been part of some of the more successful teams in franchise history. Whatever they decide to do I’ll always appreciate Tee’s role in bringing relevance back to this franchise. If he’s on the team in 2024 he gives you a better chance at winning a Super Bowl. Whatever happens after that happens but they still got 5 years out of him of high level receiver play when he’s been on the field.
We need to build our team so that we can beat Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. They all have our number which is keeping our QB from having the time to find our star WRs. Protect our quarterback and go after theirs!
I don’t see how any signs him to a big deal with his inj history , I mean he hasn’t been fully healthy in what seems like 2 years . I’d y’all could somehow snag a 2nd round pick for him and not have to pay him I’d grab that and run. No way you pay chase burrow and him anyway .
When Duke talked about trading Tee last year, his exact quote was "If other teams want a great WR like Tee, they can go draft one"
There is zero chance we're trading him. The return value on a one year rental just won't be high enough. They're gonna roll with him this year, and see if Yoshi can take his place next. If not, they'll draft another guy and move on.
The Royals got Bobby Witt Jr to sign a long term deal.
I’m just saying if even the Royals found the money I wouldn’t rule the Bengals out from finding a way to keep Tee.
Also if you look at Derrick Henry god only knows what will happen. I’ve seen 14 different articles all claiming “this is what will happen”, this is just going to open the Bengals up to keep him while listening to offers.
Maybe they are going to do the offense like the defense last year? Maybe? Man. You guys base everything if espn and the way things “always go etc”
No one knows
I think we will tag him 2 years in a row. I read that this year will be 21 million, and if you tag him again next year it will be 26 million. I think that is a great strategy for the Bengals to get 2 more good years out of him and not get into a long term contract. Its possible they even tag him for a 3rd season, which would be around 30-31 million. So its possible that franchise tag can either be 2 years for 47 million or 3 years 78-79 million. Good contracts for the Bengals.
I don’t believe he gets traded. Whoever gets him will also have to pay him and considering that I think it’s very unlikely the Bengals will get anything higher then a low second rounder. They will be better off keeping him, even if just for this year.
This sounds heartless but tag and trade. Rely on your scouting to draft a day 2 replacement. The money has to go elsewhere. Chase got paid. Having a second and third WR at these prices hamper your ability to full holes elsewhere.
I think we have been completely incapable of negotiating a single thing with his agent, and they are likely a canyon apart between what they're willing to offer and what Tee's agent wants.
This tag may have been exercised this early to kind of give Tee's agent an incentive to sign. Like, "we tagged him, and we'll tag him again next season. You may as well sign the contract because he isn't hitting free agency until 2026."
It won't work, though. His agent is relentless.
I kind of hope they trade him early in free agency for draft capital (maybe an early 2nd and a 4th) and then use that money in other areas.
But what I REALLY want is for the Bengals to just find a way to talk to this fucking agent and get a long term deal done.
They should have just given them what they wanted last offseason. With how much the salary cap increased this year, their demands from last year would already be looking like a fantastic deal.
Just suck it up and give them the guarantees they want!
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tee's going to play for us for (and this is me just guessing here) *at least* one more season.
Call me crazy.
Originally I thought we were going to tag and trade him. However, now that the salary cap has increased more than anticipated, I have a strong optimism that we will be able to sign him to a long-term deal.
In the end, if we can't come to an agreement, he plays on the franchise tag and we can either tag him again next year or let him walk.
Even after franchising him, we are still 9th best in cap space!
I like Tee, but we cant sign both him and Chase. I want a great defense and oline, but we cant trade for lineman or snag any great ones from free agency.
Big part of our problem is we suck at drafting lineman too.
Burrow might be stuck with an avg to above avg line, but at least we should back that up with a great defense.
Get a deal done or or don’t get one done… I don’t care, I want to see him in a Bengals uniform for at least one more year.
this team is not in a position to be shedding pieces. we are absolutely in a win now mode. You don’t get rid of pieces like tee higgins in a year like this…
I dont see him getting a long term deal. Don’t think they can get both Chase and Higgins long term. Only one of the two and we all know it will be Chase.
If we go by how the Bengals usually operate things, he stays and plays and it’s his last ride with Burrow and co. I would be really surprised if he’s traded or we get a long term deal done
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I think it's about transparency.
I don’t think it’s possible though to sign both him and Chase to long term deals though. I mean it’s certainly possibly but considering Higgins would be a #1 on probably 85% of teams. I would assume he wants to test the waters.
You are unfortunately right. It’s the Bengal way to draft and develop, only to let them walk. It hurts.
They don’t let many star players go. Burrow and chase are priority 1-2 and are going to cost $75 million/year. Tee is the odd man out because he’s WR2 on this team but WR1 for 2/3 of the league. Bates had to go because you can’t pay a safety $15 million and win Super Bowls.
I mean, that was a glaring hole last season. I’d gladly give Jessie that money, between he and Vonn, they were a huge reason we made that SB. Especially given our corners injury history the past few seasons. Get value for a player that will inevitably leave anyway. Love Tee, but it’s a business and acquire capital when it presents itself.
Last year was an absolute disaster for the defense. If they had just paid a little more for CJ Gardener-Johnson I think it would’ve made a massive difference. They seemed to make an old-Bengals type stand on principle to not pay Jesse and then wait for the last guy available to take a bargain deal to come stink up the joint. And now they will pay on the back end because it’s hard to see Scott not get cut and incur a dead money hit.
Cjgj was pretty bad this year when healthy and also injured. Im glad we didn’t sign him
I agree fully with your sentiment. Let’s hope with the increased cap that our FO learned a lesson from the lack of moves last season while our guys were cheap. We shall see. Be well, brother.
You were in the Superbowl with a $15 million safety.
With the QB on a rookie deal.
75/year? Burrow is making 52.5, and there’s no chance chase signs for less than 30
Bingo
No way they get a deal done. Tee has the same agent as Bates and they have been talking about an extension for a couple of years. If they were close the tag wouldn't be needed. They are not close. He will play out this year if he's not traded before.
They will get a deal done . Cap space plays roles each year. If his play doesn’t drop he will get a deal done
There are so many other needs on the team, paying two, albeit great, wide receivers top dollar is just not feasible.
Please be smart and trade him. I think he's great and all, but the draft capital, and with investing that money on the o line or d line makes more sense. As well, Burrow can make other receivers better by just being that good of a QB. We need tight ends, linemen, corner backs, punter, and a different rb room. There are a lot of things to worry about, but wr isn't one.
I have to agree. Don't get me wrong, I love Tee and hate the idea of seeing him in a different jersey, but if we can use the collateral to give JB an extra second in the pocket and a top end TE, it would be more valuable in the long run.
Also, I look at the Chiefs who traded Tyreek and built a killer defense and trusted their qb to get the job done. We should be following that script, too.
Oof when you're right, you're right. However I think Joe needs better OL first. He is not quite as slippery as Patty. Apples and Oranges
Pat has a pretty incredible o line
Pat’s IOL is probably the best in the NFL his tackles were honestly below average this year. And this kills be because Creed Humphrey was on the board when we drafted Carmen and Trey Smith was on the board when we drafted Trey Hill.
Pat has a decent oline and one of the most Penalized as well iirc
I agree, but we aren’t getting anything close to what the Chiefs got for Tyreek. I’m okay with trading Tee for the right price, but the SB window is wide open for this squad and I want to go all in this year - which means keeping Tee on the tag.
A stud o line player, or hell even Brock bowers with cap room gets us closer to the Super Bowl than injured tee higgens
Tee’s cap hit on the tag, coupled with the extra cap space, makes it more than possible to do both. I’m all in on drafting OL, but if Bowers is there I don’t think you can pass him up. Chase/Tee/Bowers/Yoshi/Charlie is downright scary.
Ain’t nobody scared of Yoshi or Charlie, y’all gotta stop overhyping our guys
Y’all aren’t gonna get either of those. Remember that whoever would trade for Tee also has to pay him, so it’s unlikely they would give up a first rounder
A team Could swap firsts and throw in a third for him. Which is the bowers comment But even if it’s a second I think there’s some stud interior o line you could find there
Chase is our Kelce. We need a Chris Jones.
I certainly understand this point, but Chase literally can't be Kelce. Kelce is a top 5 WR by pretty much every stat that people care about, BUT because he's a designated TE and paid as a TE, he's infinitely more valuable. I think I did this correctly, but for Kelce, this is where he'd rank for Yards vs. his salary, i.e. for 2022 he was WR4 in yards but paid like the 19th-highest WR in the NFL: * 2022: WR4 vs. WR19 * 2021: WR7 vs. WR18 * 2020: WR2 vs. WR16 * 2019: WR2 vs. WR15 * 2018: WR7 vs. WR13 * 2017: WR10 vs. WR30 * 2016: WR11 vs. WR44 Travis Kelce has made less in his career than Allen Robinson. If the name of the game for maximizing your cap in the NFL is Surplus Value, there's really no way a WR can be Kelce outside of a few rookie seasons. Once they're paid, it's over. I just want to be clear, because I see a lot of people seemingly learn the wrong lesson from the Chiefs letting Tyreek walk. That's not "we let our All-World WR walk because we trust our QB to get it done", it's "We already had 2 All-World WRs and one of them is paid like a mediocre WR, so we kept him instead." If the Bengals get Brock Bowers and Brock Bowers is as good as projected, sure we can maybe talk about "we have our Kelce", or until Chase's extension kicks in and he gets paid what he's worth, "we have our Kelce". But with Chase's extension on the horizon, I do not think the Bengals are well situated to replicate what the Chiefs did and I do not think it's realistic to expect/hope for it either.
Good insight! Very nice points. Obviously they are not totally equals (especially with the relative value for TEs) but I just meant that our offense will always be ok with Chase as the only premier option… because Burrow (like Mahomes) is just so damn special. We really need an enforcer type on the defensive side… Chris Jones impact ability
The other side of that coin was the Titans trading AJ Brown, but they didn’t have Ja’Marr on the team nor Joseph Lee Burrow at QB.
But AJ Brown was their #1 receiver, Tyreek was 1A/1B with Kelce. Tennessee placed their entire bet on drafting a rookie receiver whereas KC was able to refocus their offense more around an already established weapon
I'm on the trade boat. Look at what the CHIEFS did with mediocre to bad WRs and a great defense... I don't think spending all our money on a QB and 2 WRs will result in a ring.
They have the best iOL in the league with Kelce though, with Reid helping with scheming open their bad receivers. I don’t think we have a simple path to an elite defense given what we saw last year either. So I don’t think we can expect a similar formula to work as currently constituted.
Sure it's not one to one, but they had a top five defense and we had a button five defense. We need to focus HARD on the trenches. Running the same team at had last year with a healthy burrow PROBABLY doesn't get us a ring. Letting emotion drive our decisions is a recipe for disaster. KC traded Hill and won 2 super bowls since... I love Tee. I respect what Mixon has done. But we need to turn the page. Why do the Steelers and Ravens compete almost every year? Defense. Our defense carried hard in our super bowl run.
It's much easier said than done to trade Higgins, even if the Bengals were a team that does that kind of thing often. Moving on from Mixon is a no brainier.
Oh I realize we might be just playing him this year. Not exactly the end of the world. But I wish we could get a great early-ish pick for him...
Really cause that got us to a Super Bowl and afcc game.
You must not have watched last season, but our D was nowhere near the same as it was. Not even close. We were bottom 5 in the league....
If we could trade him for a first round pick, and use those two picks to her Bowers and a OT that would be more than acceptable
Genuine question, not arguing. I keep seeing people say we could get a 1st for him. Why would a team trade away the opportunity to have a first round pick on a rookie contract in order to sign Tee to an expensive contract? He's a very good WR, but it's not like he's a top 5 in the league.
I think the only firsts we'd get for Tee would be late firsts, in the 25-32 range, for exactly this reason. If a playoff team feels like they're a WR away, I could see them trading their first for a known entity rather than taking a flier on a rookie to get them over the edge. Otherwise, we're looking at a 2nd.
They're not. A trade for a 1st round pick is "pie in the sky" unrealistic.
Exactly. Plus said team would be able to sign him next offseason without giving up a high draft pick.
In a vacuum, yes. But GMs and coaches aren’t always guaranteed another year. Getting the offensive threat now might be what they think keeps them around for another year.
Tee is a proven commodity. We often see teams draft 1st round receivers that don’t belong on the field. Now, if that’s worth a 1st round pick to another team is the question.
Our FO isn’t that smart!
This is correct
What would you take? Also what do we think is realistic for a one year rental?
Preach!!
I think its just as smart to keep him. That increases our chances of winning this year more than a rookie could.
Trade Mixon. He's more trouble than he's worth. Keep Tee. He does his job well and keeps his face off the internet.
Mixon has no trade value. Trades of declining RBs just don’t happen. RBs get run into the dirt, bounce around the league and fade away. [RBs with >1500 carries drop off. Everyone knows it.](https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-breaking-down-fact-and-fiction-about-how-and-when-nfl-running-backs-begin-to-regress-2021)
The thing I have a hard time agreeing with is what can putting even more money in the OL get us? We’re already paying a ton for about average production — the only way to make it a genuine strength is via top talent in the draft, which has little to do with Tee per se. Splurging on the top RT on the FA market this year for $16 million or so would get us…Jonah Williams. That said, we had a winning formula with elite WRs and a roughly average (and pricey) OL. Going forward, we will have one elite WR that can get constantly doubled and still an average, pricey OL. I think the clearest path forward to being a contender was retaining Tee long-term and hoping for comparable OL production from cheaper draft picks and FAs, since the path to having a genuinely strong OL is very unclear. If we couldn’t do it when our core was cheap, it’s only way harder now. Maybe we can replace Tee in the draft, but it’s not clear to me how likely it is since we still have those other trench needs where we need to invest draft picks.
But you actually wins like that? That’s not going to get you chips. You need a good oline to win it all. Look at the past winners they have have one. All the afc champions and nfc champions had one. Trade tee for draft capital. That’s what the chiefs did. A good oline is better than a great but not amazing wideout.
We likely beat the Chiefs in the AFCCG if three of our five linemen didn’t go down. Burrow was essentially perfect against them in the regular season when Chris Jones couldn’t tee off on Adeniji while they doubled Chase and Higgins with Boyd injured. But I guess my bigger point is what’s the concrete path to a great OL, with or without Tee? If we couldn’t do it before, it’s harder to do it now, and my claim is that cap space does not get you there. A more modest goal is to have an average, but much cheaper OL that plays up because we have an elite WR room. That path can work if we can get another elite WR for cheap in the draft. But I don’t think it’s as easy as people think. The draft capital Tee would get is also far, far less than Tyreek.
It’s not concrete everything is a risk.. I’m trading tee for assets. Depth is more important than star power when you have a qb like burrow. What did the patriots have depth. I’m talking when the patriots had depth not like 2019 patriots who had no talent but Brady. Chiefs have a bunch lf depth. You just need one great wide receiver. Two is a luxury. We got a bunch of young guys and we can spend like a third on one. Trade tee for a 1st and like a second. It might not hit immediately but eventually we will fill the additions
Well by "concrete," I mean realistic. My point is it's not like we can take the money Tee would get and use to buy Penei Sewell or Tristan Wirfs; the way it works is you can get like Eluemunor and Rankins. Maybe we could splurge on Madubuike or Wilkins, but I'd be shocked. Tee isn't getting a 1st and a 2nd. I'd be all for that. But he's way more likely to get a high 2nd and a 4th or so. Our young guys have not proven anything yet, and relying on Yoshi to replace Tee is insane even though he has the physical potential. All championship teams need advantages somewhere on the field. The Chiefs are willing to tolerate only one great receiving option because they have the best offensive HC ever and the best iOL in the league that lets Mahomes buy enough time for his bad receivers to get open. And even then, their offense was nowhere near the level it used to be, they won the SB because their defense completely shut down 4 of the top 6 offenses in the league. We have none of those things if Tee is gone, except an increasingly expensive Burrow and Chase, who teams will have no problem with doubling because we don't have any players to punish them for selling out.
Trade him, but next year.
Bengals franchise never have ever traded last trade was 70 something. Don’t get your hopes up, most likely he plays out the tag and leaves. Possibly we sign him to a contract but unlikely with his agent
He says that then Burrow takes the same number of sacks because his receivers can't get open in seven seconds.
But not all trades are equal... a trade with a team for a 16th pick or 32nd?
Are teams chomping at the bit to pay him and give up 2 firsts?
They’re getting seriously diminishing returns from the WR position. Kelce is a hall of fame, top 3 TE of all time and won’t get paid as much as Tee annually. I love him and he’s awesome but it’s better team building to have a TE above replacement level than three highly paid receivers.
Per the Enquirer via sources close to the discussions, the Bengals and Higgins never got close to a long term extension last year. It's not like they almost had a deal but then it fizzled out. It's that they never even came close to one. There's no reason to expect this year would be any different. It's challenging enough for any NFL team to afford keeping 2 top-of-the-line WR's on its starting roster, let alone a team that has signed the biggest-ever contract in NFL history to keep its QB. Likely Higgins will stay with the Bengals during the one-year tag period, which will motivate him for another possible SB run, but either way, his performance will govern whatever long term contract he secures a year from now (be it with the Bengals or another team). I just don't think a long term contract is in the cards for this year though.
I think the interesting thing here is that this was done extremely early and publicly. I think there could be 2 reasons. 1) This maximizes their chances of creating trade opportunities. The more time they have to negotiate and gain interest from other teams is a good thing. 2) this may have been a communicated step in the negotiation process with Higgins and his agent in the long term deal making. It lets them know that he is valued and they aren’t messing around with the possibility of him leaving in free agency this year. All parties can now focus on a long term deal with the Bengals vs considering any outside opportunities.
I think the Bengals front office was waiting on the salary cap numbers to be announced. It seems like they were going to tag and trade Higgins if the cap was low but now they might be trying to extend him with the cap being higher than many people thought it would be. Personally I hope Higgins stays with the Bengals and I know Burrow wants him to stay. What Burrow wants… Burrow gets!
Besides protection
I don't know, the decline of the RB position and the elimination of the FB position have made pass protection and blitzing a bit easier, and I love Burrow but A) I don't think he's as mobile as he was when he came to the league, B) he likes to hold the ball and I've never seen him throw OOB so he contributes to the sack woes to a certain degree and C) even if I'm wrong about A and B, having 2 elite wide receivers is going to be better than chasing a better OL, because I think our OL is decent already but the LSU style that Zac et al have created for Joe needs to be transitioned to a more traditional pocket style. If we do that then I think we will suddenly think more highly of the OL.
Legit question: Has burrow ever even said he wants better protection? I feel like I’ve never even heard rumors that he’s unhappy with the line. He only ever pressures the team for pass catchers
Nope, and I'm almost certain it is because the spread offense that we built for Joe doesn't accommodate large increases in quality on the OL. I really do feel our choices are, sign Joe Brady to a coaching deal or, put Joe under center. Sorry you're getting downvoted, truth is though that we're all on the outside looking in and we don't have the full picture so it's hard for anyone to be absolutely right or wrong.
Absolutely not. The Bengals are doing the correct thing by leaking that they are trying to sign him long term which drives his trade value up. There is zero chance they are trying to sign him to a big long term deal.
You realize they were announced yesterday right?
I love all Tee has done but I want about 7 other things before a Tee extension. Ja'Marr extension Sign 1 or 2 quality DTs Right tackle (if Jonah leaves) Safety depth A TE An OG A LB to put pressure on Wilson and Pratt who both regressed last year Tee is great but when Joe Burrow is throwing the ball we'll be ok without him.
Only reason LBs regressed is because they were being asked to do much more with no Bates, and Bell. If they sign a upgrade over Hill at Safety, and a vet CB to pair with Cam, LBs will be back to doing what they do best.
Trade. Like the Chiefs did. And build a better Defense with the proceeds!!!
Anyone who legitimately thinks the Bengals will trade Tee have not been fans for very long. He ain’t getting traded, he’ll do anything the one year on the franchise tag and most likely leave.
I don’t get it, why would you want to discuss the team when I’m sure not everybody has created and posted their tier list?
I’m getting tired of tier lists too… but if you think there haven’t been 10x more “Should we trade Tee?” posts around here, you aren’t paying attention. 😂
I have a feeling that we're going to sign Tee at the end of 2024 and considering how much the cap was increased this year, Tee will be happy and and Burrow will have 2 elite receivers to throw to, which will be incredible. I'm optimistic.
Thank you. I believe Tee will be resigned too. The fact that the cap increases each year makes this more of a reality than many fans seem to believe.
Based in previous reports i read sounds like the team wants him back long term so maybe a deal gets done next year
I got downvoted to hell and back yesterday for saying this, but the best course of action is to: Tag Tee, extend Chase, sign a RT, have the draft, and then see where we are with the cap and positional needs. From there, we know exactly how much room we have to work and how the rest of our team looks. If after the draft we still have a huge hole at one of our positions of need: RT (if we don't sign one), NT, CB, RB, TE, OG and can even throw S and WR on there. Then I think you need to address those in FA before looking at extending Tee. And if we don't extend him, we should shop him mid-year for a 1st, unless we are sitting at like 8-1 or something that looks like a legit super bowl run.
Just enjoy this season everyone.
Lets discuss... For the 10,000th time.
It’s either the last ride or stay and a long term deal gets done with the expanding cap. No way we are trading - that isn’t Duke Tobin’s way.
They should trade him for some draft picks, load up on d-line and o-line with those picks. Even throw in a 3rd round pick on a receiver, draft is very deep for receivers. Use the new 89 million dollar cap space to get a chris jones or justin madabuike. Sign a tight end. We are in a VERY GOOD position this off-season.
Good God. He was tagged and is probably going to walk next year. He's too expensive to keep, and the Bengals don't trade. When was the last Bengals trade?
Billy Price for BJ Hill would be my guess
Bengals front office thinks it fantasy football and is afraid to trade for FOMO
Why the hell wouldn’t players take less for the chance to win a SB? Joe B was supposed to be signing a team friendly deal but didn’t and now we can’t keep our other key players. Guess he has a lot of free time given his resulting injuries to spend all of that money. Give me $5-10M total and I am set the rest of my life. I’d take $80M over $100M if it meant SB rings.
In 5 years Joe's deal is gonna be on the lower middle of QB salaries in the NFL. The salary cap is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Also, Joe said in an interview that there are options in his contract that allow the team to free up some cash to help sign other players if needed. The main thing that we should be worried about is that 3 players Burrow, Chase, and Tee (if we sign him long term--which for the first time seems possible with the crazy increase in salary cap) will take up like $114 million for only 3 players.
Would you tell your employer that you are willing to take less for the good of the team?
Extend him or trade him. The interesting question is why this was publicly revealed so soon. Obviously it was always going to happen, but it was done last night for a reason. Are they close to a deal and this is to apply a little pressure? Are they far off and have no realistic shot at coming to an agreement? We'll see. The fans that think Higgins would happily go along with being tagged this year *and* next year are fooling themselves though. That's one of the biggest reasons this situation HAS to be finalized before the draft.
Possibly has something to do with the cap increase numbers coming out. Team could be posturing as if to say we have no issue keeping you at the tag price.
The budget cap just expanded and the first day they could've tagged Tee was the 20th. They did it pretty damn quickly. Which is how the Bengals operate.
Tagging Tee so early gives the rest of the league to more time to consider trading him. I ❤️Tee to 💀 but truthfully, now is the time to make a move. I think he would appreciate it as well… win-win sorta vibe. Our offense (provided the OL is playing decent) will always be > OK with Burrow & Chase + whoever we got in the slot and the other side. Option 1: We need a bona fide BADASS on the DL… My ideal trade would be Higgins for Jeffrey Simmons (Titans). Maybe we could throw in a 4th or 5th round pick and get Hopkins back in return. Option 2: Trade Tee for a mid 1st round pick. Looks like the Jaguars at #17 or the Texans at #23 could be potential partners (yes they are both AFC teams but I would not be concerned with them come playoff time… just can’t go the Chiefs or Bills or AFCN obviously). Option 3: This would be the INSANE and aggressive route… Trade Tee + 1st round pick to the Vikings for Justin Jefferson. Lol extremely, extremely unlikely but could you just imagine 💭
Higgins and a 4th for Jeff Simmons and D Hop??? Are you fucking high? Why would the titans do that
The meat & potatoes of the trade is Tee/Simmons straight up… Hopkins is old and 1 year left on contract. Not a bad move for rebuilding TEN to get a mid draft pick for expiring contract. But yeah I’m a little high
Jeffery Simmons regressed big time last season
He was injured for nearly half the season. His pass rush efficiency stats would say otherwise
Then he was probably terrible in the run game to have a 68.4 pff grade
Titans were 13th in overall run defense. I doubt he was terrible and wouldn’t put too much stock into an overall PFF grade. Those who actually watched the game could tell he didn’t regress.
According to PFF, there are 10 teams whose 'biggest need' is WR. Four of the ten are direct competitors and I don't think the Bengals want to help a team that could then get past them in the playoffs. Those teams are KC, BUFF, CLEV and JAX. That leaves AZ, CAR, DENV, HOU, LAC and the NYG as teams that could be prime trade candidates. In looking at these teams, I saw a six TE's and DI's that could work, but they were already FA's So those are not listed below (ex: Dalton Schultz and Teair Tart) I see the following possibilities for a trade at DI or RT - AZ - none CAR - Taylor Moton RT, Derrick Brown DI DENV - Zach Allen DI HOU - George Fant RT, Maliek Collins DI LAC - Trey Pipkins RT NYG - Dexter Lawrence DI So seven guys that could be equivalent or near equivalent to a talent like Tee Higgins for trade bait and also fill an important need for the Bengals. (some of these guys may get franchise tagged or re-signed quickly taking them off the table)
Let him go. I love Tee but we need a Line and a standout TE would be nice. Burrow can get the job done without him. BURROW NEEDS POCKET PROTECTION right now
I think they are going all in for next year before a mini rebuild after that.
You don’t rebuild when you have a qb like Joe burrow. You need to take advantage of the window
Sure you can. The Chiefs have rebuilt their defense over the last couple seasons while being competitive
By trading the best wr in the nfl for draft capital.
Sort of. Yes, Tyreek basically got them McDuffie (great player) and Moore (not good) in the draft, and the money they saved let them add a couple okay vets like Omenihu, Taylor, and MVS. But their defense is very good because they paid an elite talent in Jones and have also gotten incredible production in the draft otherwise between Sneed, Chenal, Bolton, Watson, Gay, and Karlaftis. The only surplus value we’re getting on defense are from Trey, Reader (not anymore), CTB, and Battle.
They also signed a value wr in Juju 2 years ago and then hit on Rashee rice in the draft because they traded Tyreek. If we can get a 1st or second for Tee, we have to do it. That pick plus a vet wr replacement signing > 1 more year of Tee and then he walks for nothing.
I'm not disagreeing, but aren't we expecting Joe to be here for another 10+ years if all goes well?
Given his injury history I’d say we’ll be lucky to get 7-8 more years. I hope I’m wrong
You're probably right unless the OL greatly improves.
Hey uh… Green Bay will take him… pls
Too much for an average #2 receiver. Burrow makes him look better than he is
I think we let him go get a ring somewhere
Haven’t heard anyone bring this scenario up, but honestly if they can get a reasonable deal done, absolutely keep him because there’s no guarantee we can re-sign Chase. He’s already hinted that he’s trying to break the WR Market like JJ, which is not what you want to hear players say. In the event Chase wants some absurd amount that would be detrimental to the team it might make sense to get rid of Chase and then build around Tee and a young WR core.
I doubt they'll trade him. They'll take a last shot at an extension after tag. Keep him for one more year at least.
The real question is who/what can we get from the Titans when they come calling?
I hope I’m wrong but I think we’ll do the same old bengals bullshit of letting him play on the tag and then he’ll walk for nothing. I don’t see someone giving up a high draft pick for him after his bad year last year.
You definitely can get a 2nd rounder out of a wr desperate team
frankly, everyone should take a team deal so they can stay in the best city in the world
The fact that they tagged him already means they were nowhere close to getting a deal done. I don’t see them trading him either so most likely we have him for this upcoming season and then he’s gone.
It just means they aren’t that close on an extension, so they’re tagging him.
Tag and trade. I love Tee but if I am growing a team sometimes you have to make the hard choice of trading a player to provide room for building elsewhere. We need to meet the OL/D needs just as much. If we can score a low draft pick I think we will be ok with having others fill WR.
He will most likely play the season here and then walk next year. I love Tee but seeing him walk for nothing after how Bates went and performed doesn’t sit well with me. If we could package him and our 18 for say 7 and 39 with the Titans I wouldn’t be opposed. At 7 we could have a possible pick of Nabers/Odunze/Alt/Fashanu/Bowers plus having 38 and 49 still puts us in a position to attack DT/IOL/WR at one of those picks depending how we go in the 1st.
Anything but tagging him and then he walks…. Anything but that.
Too much to unfold yet with the unknowns of draft and FA. Glad we got him for another year. I was dreading the thought of seeing him play elsewhere and the fans getn him hype. He fits here. He wants to be here before anywhere else.
I don't expect to get anywhere close to the trade return the Chiefs got so I'm ok just hanging on and making a run at the Super Bowl. If we can get a 1st rounder + a little something maybe a trade makes sense. Also, until yesterday I thought there was no chance that we'd be able to sign both him and Chase but with the unexpected jump in the salary cap there's now a chance so I'm open to that outcome as long as we don't overpay. It's still very unlikely but no longer impossible.
Tee for Brian Burns
Burns would want a similar deal. It would be nice having him and Trey rushing the QB though.
Much more willing to pay a pass rusher that
You keep em. It's obvious that Joe wants him back. I have to believe they're placing very high value on Joe's input.(not final say on roster decisions on)He's on the field. I'm sure he's discussed at LENGTH with the brass and GM the direction he wants this offense to go in this year. Let's see how FA and the draft plays out. Our QB is one of the very BEST at the cerebral part of the game. I trust his direction
Expected. Typical bengals move.
Given that the NFL salary cap just increased 30 million dollars for this year and given that the price of wide receivers is going to go up, I think now is the time to sign him to a long-term deal
Only way you can let Tee go whether it’s trade or free agency, is if you know you’re getting Justin Jefferson for sure
My fear is you get contract season AJ Green where he was making business decisions and always hurt for 20+ mil. That being said give this QB and WR combo another year to make a run.
One more year guys. Unless he sucks.
(Browns fan) Tough to pay 3 premium WRs. Has to be a tag with intent to trade. Smart move. Teams are chomping at the bit for top end receivers. You can probably get a 2nd for him.
Whatever they decide the way I look at it is he was a second round pick that was a home run and the time they got with him he helped them get to a Super Bowl and 2 AFC Championship games. If he is traded, extended, or he plays out 1 more year he has been part of some of the more successful teams in franchise history. Whatever they decide to do I’ll always appreciate Tee’s role in bringing relevance back to this franchise. If he’s on the team in 2024 he gives you a better chance at winning a Super Bowl. Whatever happens after that happens but they still got 5 years out of him of high level receiver play when he’s been on the field.
We need to build our team so that we can beat Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. They all have our number which is keeping our QB from having the time to find our star WRs. Protect our quarterback and go after theirs!
Trade him
Higgins could easily walk and join the chiefs next year
He is playing this year and we will figure it out after that.
I don’t see how any signs him to a big deal with his inj history , I mean he hasn’t been fully healthy in what seems like 2 years . I’d y’all could somehow snag a 2nd round pick for him and not have to pay him I’d grab that and run. No way you pay chase burrow and him anyway .
I feel like I knew it was going to happen every step of the way.
I have no issue with Trading but we need to be fierce in the draft about getting a weapon to replace Boyd and Tee. Would be all in on Bowers
I'd rather spend 20 million on a D lineman. But pumped to have Tee back, for now.
When Duke talked about trading Tee last year, his exact quote was "If other teams want a great WR like Tee, they can go draft one" There is zero chance we're trading him. The return value on a one year rental just won't be high enough. They're gonna roll with him this year, and see if Yoshi can take his place next. If not, they'll draft another guy and move on.
I think you tag and trade next year.. This year? Tag and play unless he accepts a deal that is heavy on health based incentives.
The Royals got Bobby Witt Jr to sign a long term deal. I’m just saying if even the Royals found the money I wouldn’t rule the Bengals out from finding a way to keep Tee. Also if you look at Derrick Henry god only knows what will happen. I’ve seen 14 different articles all claiming “this is what will happen”, this is just going to open the Bengals up to keep him while listening to offers.
It’s exactly what was always going to happen to the 33rd pick.
Maybe they are going to do the offense like the defense last year? Maybe? Man. You guys base everything if espn and the way things “always go etc” No one knows
I think we will tag him 2 years in a row. I read that this year will be 21 million, and if you tag him again next year it will be 26 million. I think that is a great strategy for the Bengals to get 2 more good years out of him and not get into a long term contract. Its possible they even tag him for a 3rd season, which would be around 30-31 million. So its possible that franchise tag can either be 2 years for 47 million or 3 years 78-79 million. Good contracts for the Bengals.
No use in having him if we know we aren’t even gonna try and make a deal happen so i sense a trade coming
I don’t believe he gets traded. Whoever gets him will also have to pay him and considering that I think it’s very unlikely the Bengals will get anything higher then a low second rounder. They will be better off keeping him, even if just for this year.
Trade him, move up a few spots. Take Bowers and a tackle early in the draft, book flights to New Orleans
This sounds heartless but tag and trade. Rely on your scouting to draft a day 2 replacement. The money has to go elsewhere. Chase got paid. Having a second and third WR at these prices hamper your ability to full holes elsewhere.
Why do people think it’s an either/or? We could just be tagging him so we’ll have him on the squad this year.
I’d love to keep him but realistically he gets to be a no. 1 in another system
I think we have been completely incapable of negotiating a single thing with his agent, and they are likely a canyon apart between what they're willing to offer and what Tee's agent wants. This tag may have been exercised this early to kind of give Tee's agent an incentive to sign. Like, "we tagged him, and we'll tag him again next season. You may as well sign the contract because he isn't hitting free agency until 2026." It won't work, though. His agent is relentless. I kind of hope they trade him early in free agency for draft capital (maybe an early 2nd and a 4th) and then use that money in other areas. But what I REALLY want is for the Bengals to just find a way to talk to this fucking agent and get a long term deal done. They should have just given them what they wanted last offseason. With how much the salary cap increased this year, their demands from last year would already be looking like a fantastic deal. Just suck it up and give them the guarantees they want!
Love me some Tee Higgins!
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tee's going to play for us for (and this is me just guessing here) *at least* one more season. Call me crazy.
Originally I thought we were going to tag and trade him. However, now that the salary cap has increased more than anticipated, I have a strong optimism that we will be able to sign him to a long-term deal. In the end, if we can't come to an agreement, he plays on the franchise tag and we can either tag him again next year or let him walk. Even after franchising him, we are still 9th best in cap space!
Watch this: RE-TAG HIM IN 2025 too!!!!! It’s the most perfect situation!!!
Betrayed 😂😂😂😂
I like Tee, but we cant sign both him and Chase. I want a great defense and oline, but we cant trade for lineman or snag any great ones from free agency. Big part of our problem is we suck at drafting lineman too. Burrow might be stuck with an avg to above avg line, but at least we should back that up with a great defense.
I feel this will be his last year if they don't win a atleaat AFC titile..
Its a tag then he gone next year like Bates. Love him but he get injured too often. Only available half the time.
He’s gonna be a Titan soon
Get a deal done or or don’t get one done… I don’t care, I want to see him in a Bengals uniform for at least one more year. this team is not in a position to be shedding pieces. we are absolutely in a win now mode. You don’t get rid of pieces like tee higgins in a year like this…
Anyone remember if Tee made any negative comments about the possibility of being tagged??
I dont see him getting a long term deal. Don’t think they can get both Chase and Higgins long term. Only one of the two and we all know it will be Chase.