Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins has requested a trade.
Roughly two hours before the “legal tampering” window of free agency opened on Monday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the following:
Bengals franchise WR Tee Higgins has requested a trade, per sources. Higgins loves Cincinnati and hoped to be with the team long term, but is disappointed that the team has not had any talks about a long-term contract extension since March 2023. He’s ready to move on to a new home.
The Bengals applied the franchise tag to Higgins before the scouting combine and currently have until July 15 to work out a long-term extension with the star wide receiver.
Cincinnati’s quick usage of the $21.8 million franchise tag near the end of February seemed to suggest the team might be open to a trade. But Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin pushed back against that idea at the combine, saying the timing had more to do with the dramatic leap of the salary cap.
Higgins has remained adamant that he would like to remain with the team and Joe Burrow’s latest comments on the franchise tag echo the same sentiment.
Though this has consistently felt like a Jessie Bates situation for the Bengals, a trade request and the timing of it is a new wrinkle. Higgins would have to sign the tag to let a trade go through or a holdout could stretch into the summer.
