The Bengals have placed the franchise tag on WR Tee Higgins.
Higgins was originally a 2nd round pick of the Bengals in 2020. After a nice rookie season, things really took off for him in 2021, playing alongside Ja’Marr Chase and catching passes from a healthy Joe Burrow. Despite being the WR2 in Cincinnati’s offence, Higgins would be a WR1 on several other teams.
This is the second straight year that the tag has been used on Higgins. Largely tabbed as the top player set to hit free agency, it makes sense that the team would not risk losing a player of his calibre for nothing.
Being tagged for a second time, Higgins will make 120% of what he made on last year’s tag, with that number being about $26M on a 1 year deal. Last year, Higgins did play on the tag, and a long term deal always felt like a long shot. However, despite being tagged once again, there is a lot more optimism this time around that the two sides can come to an agreement.
Higgins and the Bengals can continue negotiating up until the July 15 deadline for tagged players to sign new deals. If no deal is reached, the tag will be locked in. At that point, the only two options would be to either sign the tag, or sit out.
Ever since Higgins changed agents, the feeling has been better, regarding this situation. Hopefully the two sides are able to find common ground at some point in the next while.
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