Tee Higgins explains his decision to sign Bengals’ franchise tag

Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (85) against the Los Angeles Rams during Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

NFL training camp has been dominated by talk of stars holding out and demands for new contracts. Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins, however, is taking a different approach.

Despite a lack of a long-term contract and an offseason trade demand, Higgins was present for the start of training camp and ready to play out the 2024 season on the franchise tag. While not necessarily thrilled with the resolution, Higgins admitted that he wanted to kill off the noise surrounding his situation by showing up and getting to work.

“Obviously, I could’ve waited. But I just wanted to kill all the noise,” Higgins said, via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic . “I was tired of everybody tweeting me and all the other bull—-. I just wanted to kill all that and just lock in.”

Though Higgins demanded a trade in the offseason, there was never a lot of bad feeling between him and the Bengals. At one point, he even admitted that he would probably wind up back with Cincinnati for 2024, even though he had asked for a trade at the time.

Higgins was slowed by injury in 2023, but had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and 2022. He will be looking for a rebound in 2024 ahead of a potential crack at free agency next offseason.

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