“It's really simple: He's a good player, we want to keep him and we have the resources to do it, so we decided to do it from the beginning,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the time. “And that's where we are. We like Tee. We're a better team with Tee. With the way we managed our salary cap, we had the ability to put the franchise tag on him, and we did.”
Rapoport, however, reported that no long-term contract negotiations have occurred. With talks seemingly at a standstill, Higgins now says he wants out.
The Bengals officially tagged Higgins on Feb. 26, issuing a one-year tender offer worth approximately $21.8 million through 2024. The two sides have until July 15 to reach a new long-term deal, if not make an exchange first. .
Higgins missed five games with injuries last season and had the worst statistical performance of his four-year career, catching 42 passes for 656 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
He played with a broken rib and hamstring and ankle injuries, which would be a familiar theme for the Bengals, who also lost star quarterback Joe Burrow for the season and fell to 9-8 and out of the postseason after consecutive deep games. he runs in the playoffs the previous two seasons.
But Higgins also led Cincinnati last season with 15.6 receiving yards and had a season-high 140 receiving yards with backup Jake Browning starting against the Steelers in Week 16. In 58 career games (53 as a starter), Higgins has totaled 257 receptions for 3,684 yards (14.3-yard average) and 24 TDs.
