Bengals owner doesn't do team any favors with Tee Higgins or Ja'Marr Chase

Just when we thought the Cincinnati Bengals were done being a card-carrying member of the NFL's Unholy Triumvirate of Cheap, octogenarian owner Mike Brown went back to his old ways. Old habits die hard, and he is the biggest reason why the Bengals have the reputation they have. Despite having one of the best offenses in football, his reluctance to pay players what they are worth is not changing.

His latest financial detractor has to be wide receiver Tee Higgins. Despite being an excellent player for the Bengals for four years, he is the only player in football actually playing out his franchise tag. Even getting to this point has caused irreparable damage, enough to the point where it feels like a less than zero percent chance that Higgins will re-up with the team in his free agency next offseason.

Brown complained about money, while lying about the pie that is, in fact, about to grow, grow, grow!

“The pie is not going to grow," said Brown, h/t the team's official website. "It’s only going to be a certain size, but when you reach a point with your quarterback that you have to pay him a big contract, that takes a disproportionate piece out of the pie. Which means you have less left to pay the others. Sometimes that impacts whether you can get the others signed."

He paid Joe Burrow, but doesn't want to pay Higgins all "willy nilly". What are we even doing, man?

“You can't just pay people willy nilly. You’re restricted on how much you can pay, and we really like Tee Higgins. We would wish to sign him, but it has to be at a certain level to fit within the cap or it can’t be done," said Brown.

I feel so bad for Bengals head coach Zac Taylor in having to defend his players like this to his boss.

“I think that he really handled everything the right way," said Taylor. "I’ve always said this. Tee’s personal and football character has always been what we dreamed of since we drafted him. This is the first time in his life where he’s stuck in a professional situation where it can be managed a lot of different ways, and I thought he did a great job doing it.”

For as much as Brown says he loves the person and what he is about, money talks and ish walks...

Mike Brown is further alienates Tee Higgins away from Cincinnati Bengals

This is a franchise that ended up with the best quarterback talent since Patrick Mahomes in Burrow. Despite having the Gen-Z version of Joe Montana under center, Brown has failed to provide enough financials to give him a clean pocket to regularly throw from. Two of his four NFL seasons out of LSU have ended in season-ending knee injuries. The other two saw the Bengals get to the NFL's final four.

A big reason for that is not only Burrow, Taylor and the rest of the coaching staff, but the great play of stars like Higgins and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, the other receiver Brown has to pay. He didn't want to pay No. 3 option Tyler Boyd, so he walked and reunited with former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan on the Tennessee Titans. Higgins may join them the next NFL offseason.

While I use the phrase "willy nilly" to be silly when I am talking about silly things, this is serious business, folks. Higgins makes the Bengals a better football team. He was a fantastic player collegiately at Clemson. He may have been a second-round pick, but he is without question a top-25 receiver in the game today, if not top-15. Letting him walk is only going to hurt the Bengals in the end.

Brown was never going to pay Higgins what he wanted, but he didn't have to make him look like a fool.