4 Teams That Should Still Pursue Tee Higgins Trade After Franchise Tag

The Cincinnati Bengals announced Monday that they would be franchise tagging Tee Higgins for the second consecutive year.

In theory, this decision will keep Cincinnati's coveted No. 2 receiver around for the 2025 campaign. Higgins was set to become one of the most popular free agent targets in this year's class and a slew of receiver-needy franchises appeared ready to make massive offers for his services.

With a franchise tag price of $26.2 million guaranteed—a 120 percent raise on Higgins' salary last year—the Bengals may even be getting a bargain on a player projected to earn more than $30 million annually on the open market.

There's still a chance that Higgins elects not to sign the tag, however, and such a choice would leave the door open for the emerging star to be moved.

Higgins initially requested a trade under similar circumstances last year. While he ultimately relented and rejoined the team after a mid-July deadline to work out long-term deals for franchise tagged players came and went without an extension, the organization's continued failure to lock down Higgins could result in a lengthy holdout.

The Bengals claimed they have an "intent of continuing to work towards a long-term deal in Cincinnati", but the clock is ticking on sorting out such an arrangement. The finances will be tricky as well, even after Cincinnati freed up a large chunk of money by releasing both Alex Cappa and Sheldon Rankins.

Even after these cuts, it will still be difficult for the Bengals to hammer out a market value extension for Higgins in addition to retaining other critical pieces in need of new deals like Trey Hendrickson and Ja'Marr Chase.

For these reasons, several teams shouldn't relent on their pursuit of Higgins. Although it will be a bit more costly to acquire the receiver now that it will take a trade in addition to a pricy contract offer, let's take a closer look at the clubs that shouldn't quite give up on landing Higgins.

After coming up short against the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs yet again, the Buffalo Bills once again find themselves looking for answers during a long offseason. Tee Higgins could be the missing piece for a team becoming downright desperate to secure a Super Bowl before its window closes.

It became painfully clear during that 32-29 AFC Championship Game defeat that the Bills need to find a true outside threat to get over the hump and lift the Lombardi Trophy.

Superstar quarterback Josh Allen put up some unremarkable passing numbers in the conference championship tilt (completing 22-of-34 throws for 237 yards and two touchdowns) and lacked the type of playmaking deep threat the Bills used to have in Stefon Diggs who could have swung the tight contest.

Buffalo attempted to fill the void created by Diggs' offseason departure in several ways. The team first utilized the No. 33 overall pick to bring in Keon Coleman, a massive X receiver out of Florida State.  While Coleman flashed potential early on, injuries limited his availability and effectiveness late in the year.

The Bills also brought in Amari Cooper at the trade deadline to help round out Allen's receiving corps. The veteran largely failed to gel in Buffalo's system, however, and finished his eight-game tenure with a middling 20 catches for 297 yards and two touchdowns.

With Coleman and Cooper combining for just 45 yards on five receptions against the Chiefs in the playoffs, the Bills must swing for the fences to unearth a true No. 1 who can augment up-and-coming slot wideout Khalil Shakir.

An Allen-Higgins connection may be exactly what the Bills need to finally become the team to beat in the AFC. The wideout is already on the cusp of breaking out into superstardom while catching passes from Joe Burrow in Cincinnati and could take the next step working with Allen as the focal point of Buffalo's aerial attack.  

The Jacksonville Jaguars may already have a superstar-in-the-making with Brian Thomas Jr., but the rookie wideout was the lone bright spot in the club's downtrodden receiving corps last year. Tee Higgins could be the type of game-changing acquisition this offense needs to take a leap with Trevor Lawrence under center.

With veteran Christian Kirk having his season cut short with injury for the second consecutive year and free-agent pickup Gabe Davis underwhelming in his first Jacksonville campaign before suffering a season-ending injury of his own, the Jags have to find a high-end wideout to pair with Thomas for 2025 and beyond.

Thomas unquestionably has capacity to be a No. 1, but he could be even better with another top-tier wideout lining up across the field. He finished his breakout first season with a whopping 87 catches on 133 targets that resulted 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. Thomas earned a Pro Bowl nod his outstanding efforts and his stat line looks even more impressive when you consider the lack of support the rookie received in 2024.

Brenton Strange was Jacksonville's second-most productive pass-catcher. The second-year tight end had a decent year, but only finished with 40 catches for 411 yards and two scores. Parker Washington, who had just 32 catches for 390 yards and three scores, rounded out Lawrence's top-three options last year.

With rumors swirling that Kirk will be released in a cap-saving maneuver, the Jags have to consider either taking yet another swing on a Day 1 wideout prospect or making a run at a proven option like Higgins.

Given they have 10 total selections in the upcoming draft—including a pair of third-rounders—the Jags shouldn't shy away from offering up one of those Day 2 picks for Higgins.

If the Jags manage to land and work out a long-term extension with the Cincinnati star, the triumvirate of Lawrence, Thomas and Higgins could dominate the AFC South for years to come.

The New England Patriots have too much at stake to call off their quest to land Tee Higgins.

With quarterback Drake Maye now going into a pivotal sophomore season on the heels of a promising debut, the team cannot afford to squander his development by failing to land an elite weapon like Higgins this offseason.

The Pats have been downright desperate for receiving help for over a half-decade. The team hasn't featured a 1,000-yard wideout since Julian Edelman's penultimate campaign in 2019 and hasn't had a single pass-catcher make the Pro Bowl since Rob Gronkowski earned a nod in 2017.

Although he only posted a meager 3-9 record across his 12 starts, Maye showed plenty of promise. He did so with a weak supporting cast, evidenced by not a single Patriots wideout recording over 66 catches or eclipsing the 621-receiving-yard mark or scoring more than three touchdowns in 2024. 

Maye still managed to complete a respectable 66.6 percent of his throws for 2,276 yards and 15 touchdowns on his way to the first of what could eventually be many career Pro Bowl appearances.

While Higgins has yet to be selected to a Pro Bowl himself, he has finished four of his first five seasons with at least 67 catches, 900 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He's accomplished this despite playing in the shadow of No. 1 wideout Ja'Marr Chase and has proven more than capable of stepping into a feature role when called upon.

Considering he just turned 26 years old, Higgins would be the perfect complement to Maye for the next half-decade or longer. The wideout's presence would help unlock the young signal-caller's incredible potential while forming one of the league's most productive batteries.

Even if it takes sending some draft capital Cincinnati's way in addition to putting a massive contract offer well over $30 million per year on the table to get Higgins on board, the Patriots should spare no expense in an attempt to create this dynamic duo.

With a league-high $129.8 million in cap space and nine picks in the 2025 draft at their disposal, New England has everything it could need to facilitate such a deal.

The Pittsburgh Steelers may be in a state of transition with plenty of offensive issues to address this offseason, but the team could at least patch one of its most glaring holes by trading for Tee Higgins.

Pittsburgh started the 2024 season hot before losing five straight games—including an embarrassing 28-14 defeat to the rival Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round—that ended the promising campaign on a low note. A severe lack of firepower hamstrung the squad down the stretch, as the Steelers scored a total of just 71 points over that five-game skid and never put up more than 17 in a single contest during that span.

Some of the blame for these failures lie with a regression from Russell Wilson, who started his tenure with the organization six wins in seven appearances, but the front office also didn't do enough to support the veteran quarterback.

George Pickens was the only reliable wideout at Wilson's disposal. While he finished the season with a decent 900 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 59 receptions, no other Pittsburgh receiver even reached the 40-catch or 550-receiving yard mark.

The Steelers' brass did make overtures for impact veterans like Davante Adams and Brandon Aiyuk leading up the trade deadline. Despite these attempts, the team's lone move of note was to bring in a slumping Mike Williams from the New York Jets. Williams only recorded nine catches for 132 yards and one score in his nine appearances following the trade.

Acquiring Higgins would instantly rejuvenate a Pittsburgh passing offense that ranked a lowly No. 27 in 2024.

Even with the club facing quarterback uncertainty with both Wilson and Justin Fields hitting free agency (Skylar Thompson is the only signal-caller under contract after signing a reserve/future deal back in January), the Steelers would be able put whoever takes over under center in far better position to succeed by landing the Cincinnati star.

Considering the organization has nearly $60 million at its disposal and already fields one of the NFL's top defenses, the Steelers shouldn't shy away from making a big offer to address a position that held the club back significantly last season.