5 teams who should already be preparing to sign Tee Higgins next year

No matter what happens this season, somebody is going to pay Tee Higgins handsomely next offseason. Higgins reluctantly signed his franchise tag ahead of the 2024 NFL season so that he can play for the Cincinnati Bengals. The fifth-year pro out of Clemson is a high end No. 2 wide receiver on a great team, but may view himself as a No. 1 option somewhere else. He will have plenty of suitors.

The thing that I keep going back to is how the Bengals played their hand. They know they have to extend their No. 1 receiver in Ja'Marr Chase very soon. Despite letting Tyler Boyd walk in his free agency to the Tennessee Titans, Cincinnati is simply not budging and will not give into Higgins' demands. It is a shrewd business tactic, but one that I can understand because it is the Bengals.

With all signs pointing towards him walking in his free agency next March, we can now finally formulate a handful of places where Higgins could conceivably end up. Some are more obvious than others, but all of whom will have to pay a pretty penny to get him to sign on the dotted line. Other candidates to sign him, possibly better ones than these, could emerge as the season progresses.

Let's start with a team who rarely participates in free agency, but really needs a No. 1 wide receiver.

5. Green Bay Packers

One team that everybody and their brother is going to want to tie Higgins to in his free agency would have to be the Green Bay Packers. Like the Bengals, they do things differently over there. In reality, they would rather take their next star wide receiver in days two or three of an NFL Draft than waste their time trying to woo one in free agency. Higgins would be a great fit for them, but I don't know...

To me, this really comes down to two things: How it ends for the Packers this season and how much money the front office will have to pay franchise quarterback Jordan Love on a new contract. If Green Bay sees its season end because of sub-par wide receiver play, pursuing a player like Higgins could be prioritized. If Love crushes, stinks or whatever, that should impact the amount of money available.

There are too many unknowns at play for me to realistically link Higgins to Green Bay beyond just this.

4. Buffalo Bills

No doubt about it. Losing Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans is going to sting for the Buffalo Bills this season. While there is plenty of upside to drafting Keon Coleman last spring out of Florida State, he is still unproven at the NFL level. Buffalo is still very much in win-now mode, which means the Bills will once again try to be players in free agency. Yes, I would think that they would be targeting Higgins.

While I wouldn't go as far to say that the Bills have as many moving pieces as the Green Bay Packers, I think another postseason disappointment could put even more pressure on head coach Sean McDermott, and in turn, general manager Brandon Beane. If Joe Brady proves to be the real deal as their offensive coordinator, I could see Bills looking to add a player like Higgins in his NFL free agency.

Higgins to the Bills would make things interesting by shaking up the AFC a bit, but we can do better.

3. New England Patriots

The New England Patriots were a team Higgins was tied to throughout much of this past offseason. They are a team in dire need of a No. 1 wide receiver, one with plenty of financial capital to spend. The only problem with the Patriots is we have no earthly idea how good, or bad, they will be under their first-time head coach Jerod Mayo and rookie quarterback Drake Maye, fresh out of North Carolina.

No, I don't expect the Patriots to be very good this season at all. However, all signs point to them being making the necessary marginal improvements that could entice a player of Higgins' caliber to want to link up with ahead of the curve. The Bengals were hot garbage for a while there ... until they were not. I think there is a chance we could see the Patriots flying high as a franchise in two years.

Higgins would be exactly what the Patriots are looking for, but they are too early in their life cycle.

2. Atlanta Falcons

I don't care if I'm biased, I want this. I want this to happen, man. Higgins starred collegiately at relatively nearby Clemson, a program that two of my Atlanta Falcons' best players went to school at in defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and cornerback A.J. Terrell. Atlanta has a No. 1 wide receiver in Drake London, as well as an ensemble cast around him, but the Falcons really need a strong No. 2 receiver.

While guys like Higgins and Terrell could vouch for him, I think the fact that his former Bengals teammate in All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III is thriving in Atlanta could entice Higgins to come here. This is a team with a perennial Pro Bowl quarterback in Kirk Cousins, a promising rookie in Michael Penix Jr., now coordinated by a noted Sean McVay and Mike Gundy disciple in one Zac Robinson.

This is a team is on the rise and in win-now mode, but will Atlanta have enough money to sign him?

1. Tennessee Titans

It is not even close. The best and most likely landing spot for Higgins would have to be his home state's Tennessee Titans. Higgins may have played his college football at Clemson, but he hails from Oak Ridge. His former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan now occupies the big chair in Nashville. Fellow Clemson alum DeAndre Hopkins is the No. 1 in town. Tyler Boyd also plays here.

To me, it is all about how good the quarterback play is this season for the Titans. I venture to guess that some combination of Will Levis and Mason Rudolph will produce good, but not great results. Therefore, I envision a scenario where the Titans are taking a quarterback in the first round next spring. We are looking at Carson Beck, Quinn Ewers, Shedeur Sanders or maybe Riley Leonard.

Tennessee is about a year away from being a year away, but an ideal landing spot for Higgins in 2025.