6 NFL Teams That Should Pursue Trade for Bengals' Tee Higgins

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is currently making headlines for getting shut out by the Cleveland Browns in Week 1. Moving forward, he's going to make headlines as a possible trade target.

According to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals and Higgins "are not close and never got close on a contract extension" leading up to the season. She also reported that he "is not believed to be in the Bengals' future plans."

"Cincinnati's front office will have the option to apply the franchise tag next offseason on Higgins to keep him around for one more season but that doesn't seem likely," she added.

That makes Higgins an ideal trade candidate, as he's likely to at least bring back a first-round pick that the Bengals could use to replace him or continue to build the defense.

Here's a look at six teams who should be willing to pay up for Higgins based on what he would bring to their offense and their own financial situation.

The Arizona Cardinals appear to be in the midst of a rebuild. Part of rebuilding is identifying and acquiring players whom you can build around.

That's exactly what Higgins would be in the desert.

Trading a first-round pick for Marquise Brown has not worked out for the Cardinals as hoped. He had 709 yards and three touchdowns in 12 games last season and had just three catches for 28 yards in his 2023 debut.

Playing without quarterback Kyler Murray has hurt Brown's numbers, but Higgins is still a clear upgrade over him moving forward. The 24-year-old already has back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons on his resume, while Brown only has one such season in four years.

After this year, the Cardinals will either be in position to get Caleb Williams, another rookie quarterback or roll with a healthy Murray. Either way, they would benefit from having a new No. 1 receiver.

The Cardinals have one of the smallest receiver rooms in the league with Brown (5'9", 180 pounds), Rondale Moore (5'7", 180 pounds) and Greg Dortch (5'7", 175 pounds) all sporting slight frames.

They do have Michael Wilson (6'2", 213 pounds) and Zach Pascal (6'2", 215 pounds) but Wilson is a third-round rookie and Pascal is not comparable to Higgins as a receiver.

Higgins (6'4", 219 pounds) would be unlike any other receiver whom they have on the roster.

In some Gift of the Magi irony, the Panthers had to trade the thing that would help rookie quarterback Bryce Young the most—leading receiver DJ Moore—to acquire the No. 1 pick in the draft to select him. The target distribution in Week 1 was a perfect example.

Tight end Hayden Hurst led the way against the Atlanta Falcons with seven targets. He caught five of them for 41 yards and a touchdown and led the Panthers in catches and yards.

Last year, Hurst was the fifth option in Cincinnati behind Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd and Joe Mixon.

The Panthers have some promising young receivers who could eventually become better than they are right now. Terrace Marshall Jr. and Jonathan Mingo saw a combined 11 targets against Atlanta and have unmet potential.

But bringing in a receiver like Higgins would be a force multiplier in the receiver room. The attention that he commands would open up things for everyone else and give Young a true No. 1 receiver to rely on as he continues his growth.

The Panthers are currently projected to have $49.7 million in cap space in 2024, with defensive end Brian Burns and cornerback C.J. Henderson highlighting their in-house free agent class. They should be able to get Higgins in under the cap and raise the ceiling of Young and their offense considerably.

The Detroit Lions made a statement in Week 1 by upsetting the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road. That victory let the league know they are a legitimate threat in the NFC.

Trading for Higgins would declare they are all-in on winning right now. It would also supercharge an offense that is already sixth in EPA per play going back to last season.

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has shown the ability to design an offense that gets the most out of Jared Goff. Right now, the receiving corps is basically Amon-Ra St. Brown and a collection of serviceable role players. Jameson Williams, whom the Lions selected 12th overall in 2022, was a disappointment last season and is currently serving a six-game suspension for violating the league's gambling policy.

Pairing St. Brown with Higgins would give the Lions one of the best receiver tandems in the league. Placed in the hands of Johnson, the Lions would have a dynamic offense.

St. Brown's precise route running and ability to dominate the underneath and intermediate areas of the field paired with Higgins' vertical game would give the Lions everything they need to have a top passing game.

The Lions could strike while the iron is hot and announce themselves as a real threat to the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in the NFC.

With Bill O'Brien as their new offensive coordinator, the New England Patriots appear to have renewed confidence in third-year quarterback Mac Jones. After falling into an early 16-0 hole, the Pats threw the ball 54 times in a 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.

The problem is that Jones still doesn't have a great receiving corps. Kendrick Bourne led the way against the Eagles with six catches for 64 yards and two touchdowns on 11 targets.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson and tight end Hunter Henry had six targets apiece, but the Patriots' No. 2 wide receiver was Demario Douglas, a 5'8", 192-pound sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft. He had four catches for 40 yards on seven targets.

Those kinds of weapons aren't going to cut it in an AFC East with Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill and Garrett Wilson. Higgins would close the gap between the other teams' top receivers and New England's.

The Pats haven't had a dynamic vertical threat like Higgins in quite some time. Making an aggressive move for the Bengals receiver would be an acknowledgment that Jones needs more help than they gave Tom Brady toward the end of his time in Boston.

After an embarrassing 40-0 shutout loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, the New York Giants need a shot in the arm offensively.

Quarterback Daniel Jones averaged only 3.7 yards per pass attempt and was sacked seven times. Part of that is on the offensive line, but there's always shared blame when there are that many sacks, including a receiving group that didn't get separation.

Tight end Darren Waller led all Giants with three catches for 36 yards on five targets, but Isaiah Hodgins was the top wide receiver with one catch for 24 yards on three targets.

The result highlighted a suspected issue for the Giants. Their de facto top wide receiver is a 31-year-old tight end who has missed significant time in each of the last two seasons and is already dealing with a hamstring injury this season.

The Giants just signed Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract this offseason. But even with Jones' $47.1 million cap hit next year, the Giants are currently projected to have $43.4 million in cap space in 2024.

The opportunity to find and pay a legitimate No. 1 receiver is the reason why a franchise plays hardball with a player like Saquon Barkley. The running back is on a one-year deal, which clears up cap space for finding a player like Higgins at a more valued position.

Investing in Higgins would give the Giants a better shot at getting positive value out of Jones' extension.

Two things became clear with the Houston Texans in Week 1. They have to put a lot on rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud this season, and Stroud has a lot of chemistry with third-year receiver Nico Collins.

Stroud threw the ball 44 times in his debut. The game script dictated a pass-heavy approach, but it wasn't as though the Texans' run game was successful. They averaged only 3.1 yards per carry, which was buoyed by Stroud's 20 yards on four carries.

A quarter of those 44 pass attempts went to Nico Collins. The 6'4", 215-pounder is a big-bodied contested-catch specialist, much like Higgins.

The Texans have both Collins and Robert Woods under contract through the 2024 seasons, but releasing Woods after one season would only carry a dead cap charge of $4.8 million, with $5 million in cap savings.

Pairing Higgins with Collins would give Stroud two massive targets on the outside. His greatest strength is his accuracy, so his ability to put it where only Higgins and Collins can get it could become an explosive aspect of the Texans offense.

The Texans would also have John Metchie III and Tank Dell as two young inside receivers who can work underneath to complete a young and promising receiver room.