"It really sucks" - Ex-NFL QB sounds off on Bengals stopping Tee Higgins from getting potential $120 million deal
Tee Higgins has once again been franchise-tagged by the Cincinnati Bengals. He'll be a restricted free agent this offseason now that the Bengals have put the tag on him for the second year in a row.
This means that Higgins will be able to receive offers from teams, but the Bengals will have the right to match those offers, keeping Higgins with the club if they can. Higgins has been a massive piece of Cincinnati's offense, with many believing he could be a No. 1 receiver on just about any other team, as he currently sits behind Ja'Marr Chase on the Cincinnati depth chart.
However, with Higgins getting tagged yet again, that possibility continues to diminish. Former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel offered his take on Tuesday's episode of the "Scoop City" podcast he co-hosts alongside Dianna Russini. Overall, Daniel finds it disappointing that Higgins is being prevented from maximizing his potential earnings in free agency.
"My first reaction: It really sucks for Tee Higgins," Daniel said. "And let me just explain why. It’s not that it sucks for him to make $26 million. Everyone’s like, 'He’s gonna make $26 million!' I just want to make sure people understand what the franchise tag is. It's a way to keep players from reaching free agency.
"Tee Higgins already played on the franchise tag last year. Hopefully, for him, he doesn’t play on it this year, because the goal of playing is to reach free agency. Now, Tee Higgins is heading into his sixth year and still hasn't hit free agency. If he did, he’d get around $30 million a year — maybe a four-year, $120 million deal with $90 million guaranteed. He’s got $27 million guaranteed here.
"And, you know, this is a bigger conversation — one we can have later when there’s less going on. The franchise tag? Players hate it. But it only affects six or seven guys a year, so you’re not going to get the league to bargain it away. But if I’m Tee Higgins right now? I’m not happy."
Bengals doing everything they can to retain offensive core
The Cincinnati Bengals have a promising offensive core led by quarterback Joe Burrow. He led the Bengals team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2022 where they were defeated by the Los Angeles Rams. Since then, the former LSU signal-caller has proven himself to be one of the better quarterbacks in the league today.
Cincinnati had some struggles in the 2025 season, missing the playoffs after finishing third in the AFC North with a 9-8 record. Protecting Burrow on the offensive line has been an issue, which will be something the club will need to address this offseason. However, keeping their weapons such as Chase and Higgins together is essential to getting the Bengals back to a Super Bowl in 2025.
It will be interesting to see if the Bengals can keep Higgins around this offseason.