By now, Cincinnati Bengals fans might’ve heard about the stunning, blockbuster NBA trade that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Those fans also might’ve seen a few NFL comparisons for the sake of fun, too.
And while nothing in real life might end up compared to the colossal dud that was the Cleveland Browns trading for Deshaun Watson, the Doncic move has inspired lots of big, unrealistic, and lopsided trade ideas (which is the point of the fun exercise).
One of the most notable from a Bengals perspective comes from Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox, who suggests the Bengals apply a second franchise tag to Tee Higgins and trade him to the New England Patriots in exchange for cornerback Christian Gonzalez:
Sign-and-trade deals are common in the NBA. They’re less common in the NFL, though tag-and-trade agreements do occur. Last offseason, for example, cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and pass-rusher Brian Burns were both traded after first receiving the franchise tag.
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The idea gets points for being savvy enough to loop in the common trope that is NBA sign-and-trades.
What’s interesting about the Bengals is that, if Higgins totally wants out of town, that sort of deal might be something Cincinnati explores.
Gonzalez, for what it’s worth, was a 2023 first-round pick who is clearly on his way to superstardom and the Bengals have big problems at the spot with Cam Taylor-Britt erratic and both Dax Hill and DJ Turner coming back from injury.
Even more interesting, though? The Bengals could very well opt to franchise tag Higgins again and keep him at a roughly $26 million cost, which would fly far under the average annual value he might get on the open market as a free agent.
