The Cincinnati Bengals were recently listed as the best fit for a top-five free agent, the name coming from an outside team on the open market.
Those Bengals are also listed as the best fit for their own top-seven free agent, wideout Tee Higgins.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen provided the writeup:
If Higgins does make it to free agency, Carolina would also be a fantastic fit, as the Panthers need a WR1. But I have him staying in Cincinnati on the franchise tag, and with a healthy Joe Burrow back to start the 2024 season and Ja’Marr Chase on the other side of the field, this move could make the Bengals a Super Bowl contender once again. In four seasons with Cincinnati, Higgins has 24 touchdown receptions.
As of Tuesday’s window opening on the “key dates” for NFL teams calendar, the Bengals are free to use the tag on Higgins.
That tag that will cost roughly $20.7 million doesn’t have to happen right away, though. The Bengals have until March 5 to apply it, then until a July 15 deadline to work on a long-term extension.
Anything other than a tag that has Higgins playing for the Bengals in 2024 would be a stunner, though. His body of work and rankings like this — compared to the entire free-agent class — speak to why.
