3 teams that can sign Tee Higgins in 2025 NFL free agency ft. Buffalo Bills
Tee Higgins will officially play on the franchise tag for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024, which means he will be a free agent in 2025. If he has a sterling season, he can increase his valuation and get the long-term, high-value contract that he wants.
But finding a new team will not be easy. As the 2024 NFL draft showed, there are a lot of great receivers coming in from colleges. And when salary cap concerns are a real thing, someone might not want to go for a pricier option in Tee Higgins unless he does something exceptional this season.
But there will be some teams that can benefit from having someone like him based on how their 2024 season pans out. Here are three teams that could come sniffing when Tee Higgins tests free agency next offseason.
Tee Higgins potential landing spots in 2025
#1 - Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans dismissed Mike Vrabel after the completion of last season and opted to hire Brian Callahan as their new head coach. One of the reasons the former New England Patriots Super Bowl winner fell afoul of the Titans' hierarchy, despite winning the NFL Coach of the Year award two seasons ago, was his failure to get the offense going.
And much of that can be traced back to their decision to trade away WR A.J. Brown to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Titans moved away from their best wide receiver to draft Treylon Burks in a move that was opposed, ironically, by Mike Vrabel. And since then, they have never gotten the offense firing to that degree again.
They have changed quarterbacks from Ryan Tannehill to Will Levis. They have brought in DeAndre Hopkins. And now they have replaced a defensive head coach with an offensive one. Brian Callahan was previously the offensive coordinator for the Bengals and Tee Higgins. If he finds that he is not satisfied with the depth of his receiving options in Tennessee, he could be back in the market for one in 2025.
At that time, if the Titans had taken their lesson of noting that a rookie wide receiver is not always better than a veteran, even if cheaper, they could look at someone like Tee Higgins. The head coach is likely to find comfort in recommending a player he has worked successfully with in Cincinnati.
#2 - Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills had salary cap constraints and chose to move away from a host of wide receivers in 2024. They will trust Josh Allen's arm to make those around him better while also trusting his legs to bring the elite dual threat that everyone knows he can. That is a bold strategy, but it has the potential to backfire.
They have traded away both Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, his top two weapons from last year. In the 2024 NFL draft, they did not pick in the first round and instead waited until the second to choose Keon Coleman as a wide receiver.
Even if the rookie is amazing and settles into the NFL immediately, that is only one outlet for the quarterback. He has no veterans like Cole Beasley either that can come in and do a job.
In such a scenario, the 2024 season could be one where the Bills learn that even the best quarterbacks need a variety of targets to throw to. Even when you have a quarterback in his Super Bowl window, having only one elite target might not be enough.
It might lead to a situation akin to when Aaron Rodgers was winning the MVP with the Packers but had only Davante Adam as an elite threat, and blocking him was enough to shut them down in the playoffs.
If this comes to pass, then they might look for a veteran wide receiver to give Josh Allen some options. Tee Higgins fits the description perfectly, as he has played in the AFC and has playoff experience.
#3 - Green Bay Packers
The Packers were the surprise team last season, as they made it to the NFC divisional round. Jordan Love had an MVP-level second half of the season. In his final eight regular-season games, he threw 18 touchdowns and one solitary interception. He did so despite not having a standout primary wide receiver.
Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks all contributed from time to time. All the young cast came and delivered when it mattered, as they snuck in as the seventh seed in the conference. But 2024 will show if that is a viable strategy in the long term.
Jordan Love has said that not having a designated top wide receiver helps the Packers distribute the ball to everyone and makes the job harder for defenses. However, when other teams in the division have players like Justin Jefferson, D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen and Amon-Ra St. Brown, this might not be a feasible state of affairs for long.
Therefore, the Packers might have to look for a wide receiver in 2025 who has NFL experience and can complement this young group.
They might want to bring someone like Tee Higgins in that case since he knows about playing tough games in the NFL, both in the regular season and the postseason, with the Bengals. Tee Higgins will further appeal to head coach Matt LaFleur, too, since the wide receiver has played with Zac Taylor in Cincinnati, who was his colleague on the offensive side of the ball with the LA Rams in 2017.