Bengals Could Have Surprising Trade Partner For WR Tee Higgins

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins will be playing out the 2024 NFL season on a one-year deal after failing to reach a long-term agreement with the team earlier this week.

The Bengals slapped a franchise tag on Higgins earlier this offseason and were not expected to sign him to a contract extension, so this came as no surprise.

However, Higgins’ murky future in Cincinnati has resulted in trade speculation, especially considering that the star pass-catcher requested a trade several months ago (although he retracted it).

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox has named a rather surprising potential trade partner for the Bengals in the event of a Higgins deal: the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Jaguars lost No. 1 receiver Calvin Ridley to free agency in March. They did sign Gabe Davis and selected Brian Thomas Jr. in the first round of the NFL Draft, giving them a rather interesting receiving corps that also includes Christian Kirk.

Still, Jacksonville doesn’t currently have a top-flight wide out on its roster, which could open the door for the Jags to make a move on Higgins if he becomes available.

It’s important to note that Higgins was a teammate of Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, so there is already a rapport there, and the Jaguars were also rumored to be interested in Brandon Aiyuk back in the spring.

Will the Bengals trade Tee Higgins?

Of course, the Bengals absolutely do not have to trade Higgins.

Cincinnati is trying to win a Super Bowl, and jettisoning Higgins before the season would obviously be counterproductive to that goal.

But there does exist a world in which Cincy can potentially trade Higgins midseason.

Let’s say the Bengals get off to a rough start and seem out of the playoff picture by the trade deadline. In that scenario, Cincinnati may find it wise to trade Higgins and recoup some value for him before ultimately losing him for nothing in free agency.

The 2024 NFL trade deadline will be Nov. 5, just after Week 9. The Bengals actually have a pretty forgiving schedule over their first nine games (they only play four teams that had winning records last year during that stretch), so the chances of them being out of the race by then seem pretty slim.

Stranger things have happened, but Tee Higgins will probably remain in Cincinnati through 2024.

Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.