And then there was one... With safety Antoine Winfield Jr. signing a multi-year extension to keep on playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that means Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is the only franchise-tagged player left who has yet to sign a multi-year extension with anyone, his team or not. Higgins' contract situation has absolutely played a part in Tyler Boyd being a free agent, too.
While neither Boyd or Higgins will ever be Joe Burrow's No. 1 option in Cincinnati with Ja'Marr Chase clearly occupying that role, we have to wonder if either, or both, will be playing somewhere else next year. One very popular potential landing spot for both would have to be the Tennessee Titans, a team now led by their former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Are they still in play for them?
If not Cincinnati or Tennessee, the New England Patriots might be a fit for Higgins when looking at their roster. This is all hypothetical.
At this point of the offseason, owner Mike Brown and director of player personnel Duke Tobin are going to ask themselves their toughest question since drafting Chase over Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell in 2021: Do we keep Higgins or Chase? Right now, they feel like mutually exclusive entities. The worst part in all this is it never had to be this way. The Bengals are still the Bengals...
For a franchise that hates making trades, look for the Bengals to take their sweet time with this.
Cincinnati Bengals are dragging their feet in Tee Higgins contract saga
I hate to say it, but the Bengals have to recognize their Super Bowl window is closing, if it hasn't so already. An AFC rival team is in denial about this over in Orchard Park, but that is another conversation for another day. See, the Houston Texans are looming large down there in the AFC South. Cincinnati also plays in the same division as the Baltimore Ravens in the brutal AFC North, too.
Even though Burrow has gotten paid already, Chase is about to, and the Bengals might lose a second coordinator in as many offseasons. If they were to have another good season, that might put defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo on someone's radar finally. What I am getting at is the Bengals need to understand that after the 2024 NFL season, it might be a minute before they are contenders.
While I would say that they have taken advantage of Burrow's youth and greatness, he is now injury-prone. He has missed the bulk of two of his four NFL seasons. When he is healthy, he is a top-three quarterback. Unfortunately, he may have a hard time doing that without a complete receiving corps around him. Losing Callahan to the Titans doesn't help, but dragging their feet with Higgins sure does.
Although the Bengals should extend Higgins, they might end up letting him play out his franchise tag.