Super Bowl LIX has come and gone, and it's time for NFL teams to start building towards the 2025 season. In Free Agency Primer, we'll cover some of the best players who could be on the move once the legal tampering window opens on March 10th.
Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Tee Higgins
The Cincinnati Bengals offense could look a lot different next year. Wide receiver Tee Higgins may be one of the most coveted free agents in the league, even though he isn't close to the best pass catcher on his own team. His teammate Ja'Marr Chase is extension-eligible and is set to break the bank on what will likely be a record-breaking deal, so the Bengals may have difficulty justifying investing heavily in their WR2.
At 6'4" and 219 lbs, Higgins is a powerful outside presence with good hands. He's been an extremely consistent and effective pass catcher since entering the league as the 33rd pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. He has posted at least 54.7 receiving yards per game, 8.4 yards per target, and a passer rating of 100 or more on throws in his direction in each of his five seasons.
Still, the Bengals have failed to finish as a top-five scoring offense in any of Higgins' five years in the league and have missed the playoffs for consecutive seasons. The Bengals need to get better, and paying exorbitantly for a player of Higgins' calibre could make it difficult to improve the roster elsewhere.
Who Should Be Interested?
Higgins hardly seems like the level of player who would draw consecutive franchise tags, but given the recent explosion of wide receiver contracts, tagging Higgins may not be all that bad an idea for the Bengals. The one-year tender would cost approximately $26.2 million. Considering he could draw as much as $30 million per year should he hit unrestricted free agency, a second tag may be a sensible option for the Bengals.
If the Bengals decide Higgins simply isn't worth that significant a commitment, he'll be a hot commodity. He offers size, explosiveness, youth, and red zone reliability, and teams lacking pass catchers will be lining up to offer him big money. He may not have the ceiling necessary to be a truly elite wideout in the league, but he has a high floor that can help a lot of franchises.
Teams shouldn't expect to make Higgins the centrepiece of their offence. He belongs on a team that's flush with cap space and intends to start a promising young passer in desperate need of help on the outside. The Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Carolina Panthers all make sense, as would the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers if they can land quarterbacks in the draft.
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