The Cincinnati Bengals can apply the franchise tag to star wideout Tee Higgins starting Tuesday when the window to do so opens leaguewide.
That Higgins gets a tag seems like a foregone conclusion, though the Bengals don’t figure to make the move happen right away.
When they do, though, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer expects Higgins to be one of two realistic possible tag-and-trade scenarios:
Of those, I’d say Higgins and Burns could be tag-to-trade candidates. In Burns’s case, it’s because he and the Panthers haven’t been close on a long-term agreement over the last couple years. In Higgins’s case, it’s because the Bengals have a bigger deal for Ja’Marr Chase on the horizon.
History and the mechanics of a tag and trade say otherwise, though.
There are fewer than 10 examples of a tag and trade since 2018 and even if the Bengals were to find a trade partner willing to cough up multiple draft picks (including possibly a late first-rounder), Higgins wouldn’t have to sign the tag if he doesn’t like the destination or extension that team will do.
The $20.7 million tag has always been a way for the Bengals to extend the contention window one more year. They’ve got plenty of cap space, Joe Burrow’s extension number doesn’t escalate until 2025 and it is structured in a way (through the ability to do future re-structures) that the Bengals could pay Ja’Marr Chase and Higgins at the same time.
Unless another desperate team comes through with a jaw-dropping offer, the Bengals have until March 5 to apply the tag, then July 15 to reach an extension.
