There won’t be any franchise-tag drama between Tee Higgins and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals became the first team to use the tag this offseason when they officially placed it on Higgins on Monday. Coach Zac Taylor definitely seemed thrilled with the news.
“Tee has done an outstanding job for us since we drafted him in 2020,” Taylor said in a statement. “I’m glad that he’ll continue to be a big part of our offense and our team.”
The decision by the Bengals comes just days after they — and the 31 other teams — got an unexpected gift from the NFL when the league announced that the salary cap would be set at $255.4 million in 2024, which is $10 million to $15 million more than most teams were expecting.
The Bengals will now be using some of that extra money to pay Higgins, who will get a fully guaranteed one-year deal worth $21.816 million if he plays on the tag. Once Higgins signs his franchise deal, he’ll have until July 15 to work out a long-term contract with the Bengals. If that doesn’t happen, then he’ll go into the 2024 season on his one-year deal.
The fact that the Bengals decided to tag Higgins isn’t that surprising, but the timing of the decision is somewhat unusual. Most teams wait until closer to the tag deadline before making a decision on whether to use the franchise tag (the deadline this year is March 5). That gives the team more time to work out a possible long-term deal with the player.
With Higgins getting tagged on Feb. 26, that will make him just the fourth player since 2018 to be tagged in the month of February. This is also the earliest that ANY player has been tagged since Jarvis Landry was hit with the franchise tag by the Dolphins on Feb. 20 back in 2018.
Keeping Higgins was high on Cincinnati’s priority list for the offseason. The Bengals didn’t hide the fact that they wanted to keep Higgins, with everyone from Joe Burrow to the team’s director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, making it clear that they wanted the receiver back.
“He’s a big part of what we have done here,” Burrow said of Higgins in January. “It’s no secret our relationship. I expect Tee to be back. I think that’s the sentiment in the locker room. We all want Tee back. We know what kind of player he is. We know what kind of person he is. He’s what being a Bengal is all about.”
Tobin echoed those comments at the Senior Bowl in late January.
“I want Tee…
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