Tee Higgins won't sign contract extension with Bengals before deadline: Report
Tee Higgins is potentially entering the final season of his Bengals career as he will not sign a contract extension prior to Monday, July 15th, 2024. That is the deadline if he wants to play on a revised contract for the season. Instead, it does not look like the franchise and the wide receiver have been able to agree to a new deal.
Instead, the Bengals have placed the franchise tag on Tee Higgins, which he has signed. This means that he will be available this season but then will be free to test the market in 2025. As reported by NFL insider, Ian Rapoport on X, formerly known as Twitter,
"It has appeared evident for some time, but for clarity:.. The #Bengals and star WR Tee Higgins will not do an extension by Monday’s deadline. He’s signed his franchise tag, he’ll play on it, then be one of the top free agents in the 2025 offseason."
Why did Tee Higgins end up signing the franchise tag with the Bengals?
People with a sharp memory will remember that early in the offseason, Tee Higgins requested a trade after the Bengals slapped a franchise tag on him. He did not want to play for a single year without a long-term commitment. He also missed the voluntary team activities and mandatory minicamp. However, he was not fined because he had not countersigned the franchise tag offer and hence he was not technically under contract.
But he has now decided to end his holdout and return to the fold by signing it. The change in his stance came probably due to some cold facts. With a franchise tag being placed on him, he really could not explore the market with other teams. Also, last season he had just 656 yards and five touchdowns, a significant downgrade from his production in the previous couple of seasons when he accumulated over 1,000 yards.
Tee Higgins just saw Justin Jefferson reshape the wide receiver market with his $35 million per annum deal that runs for four years and is worth $140 million. If the Bengals receiver signed a long-term deal now, he would have been paid based on last season, when his output was comparatively paltrier, just when the benchmark for receivers went up.
Instead, he now gets to play this 2024 season for a team with Super Bowl aspirations and where more than 1,000 yards receiving again can be a legitimate target. By doing so, he will position himself as one of the top players in his position in 2025 and will be able to demand accordingly.