Trades to Make: Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Tee Higgins

With the NFL regular season coming up fast, teams are finalizing their rosters. However, there's still time for an aggressive team to shake up the league with a savvy trade. Here are the top remaining trade candidates who could be the difference between contention and disappointment for the right franchise.

Wide Receiver Tee Higgins

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins has been the subject of trade rumors dating back to the 2023 regular season. Of the nine players to receive the franchise tag this offseason, Higgins was the only one not to reach a lucrative, long-term extension. As things now stand, he'll earn $21.816 million on a one-year deal and will likely test unrestricted free agency in 2025, barring the rare (and expensive) second consecutive franchise tag.

Higgins is a tricky negotiation as far as wide receivers go. He's coming off his worst season as a pro, setting career lows in receptions (42), receiving yards (656), and touchdowns (5). Of course, there were mitigating circumstances: Higgins missed five games due to injury, and starting quarterback Joe Burrow missed seven starts due to a wrist injury.

If the Bengals truly believed Higgins had a future with the team, they would have tried to buy low on him sometime over the past year. Instead of losing him in free agency next offseason, they're better off trying to land a meaningful draft pick from a receiver-needy team as soon as possible. A second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft should be enough to get it done.

Who should be interested?

At his peak, Higgins has definitely been an above-average receiver: He totalled 3028 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns at an efficient 9.3 yards per target over his first three seasons in the league. Given he's still only 25 years old, his best years could still be ahead of him. At the very least, he should be able to match the effectiveness he flashed from 2020 to 2022.

Higgins is a big body that lacks other elite traits and has probably found his level as a WR2. He would fit best on a team that's taking the long view and trying to surround a young quarterback with proven, reliable veterans. He would make sense on a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars or New York Giants.