Reports indicate Tee Higgins won’t be signing a long-term contract before Monday’s deadline. That means he’ll be playing in 2024 under the one-year franchise tag – and that he’ll be heading back to free agency next spring.
Higgins has signed his franchise tender, so he’ll make $21.8 million this year. With the Bengals also having Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, they’ll likely let him walk next year, needing the salary cap space to instead address other positions.
The front-runner to start opposite Chase in 2025 (I think) is Jermaine Burton. I like that Burton will have had a year to learn the offense and get his feet week. In typical dynasty league, I would think Burton would merit a roster spot. I wouldn’t count on any usage in 2024, but if he picks things up reasonably well, he could enter next year looking like a possibility for top-50 numbers.
As for Higgins, he comes off a somewhat disappointing season. There’s been the narrative for the last three years that he’s a No. 1 receiver trapped behind one of the top few players in the league at the position. But Higgins last year looked more like a No. 2 receiver rather than a No. 1 difference-maker kind of guy.
Higgins needs a solid season to rehab his image. Had he entered this last offseason as an unrestricted free agent, I’m not sure another team would have ponied up $21.8 million.
On the plus side, Chase missed one game last year, and Higgins in that wek (at Pittsburgh) caught 5 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown. That was with Jake Browning filling in at quarterback. In the 2022 season, Higgins went over 100 yards in both of his last two games without Chase.
In Higgins’ last 19 full games without Chase in the lineup, he’s caught 98 passes for 1,419 yards and 9 TDs. That includes one game last year, four from 2022, and 14 from his rookie year in 2020. Higgins averaged 5.2 catches for 75 yards in those games.
Joe Burrow missed six of those games. In Higgins’ 13 games with Burrow at quarterback (and Chase not playing) his production has been pretty similar, with averages of 5.3 catches and 77 yards, with 6 TDs. (In the chart below, the non-Burrow games are in bold.)
| TEE HIGGINS WITHOUT JA'MARR CHASE | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Wk | Opp | Result | Tgt | No | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2020 | 2 | at Cle. | L 30-35 | 6 | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 | at Phi. | T 23-23 | 9 | 5 | 40 | 8.0 | 2 |
| 2020 | 4 | Jac. | W 33-25 | 7 | 4 | 77 | 19.3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 5 | at Balt. | L 3-27 | 8 | 4 | 62 | 15.5 | 0 |
| 2020 | 6 | at Ind. | L 27-31 | 8 | 6 | 125 | 20.8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 7 | Cle. | L 34-37 | 5 | 5 | 71 | 14.2 | 1 |
| 2020 | 8 | Ten. | W 31-20 | 9 | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 10 | at Pitt. | L 10-36 | 9 | 7 | 115 | 16.4 | 1 |
| 2020 | 11 | at Was. | L 9-20 | 10 | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 |
| 2020 | 12 | NYG | L 17-19 | 5 | 5 | 44 | 8.8 | 1 |
| 2020 | 13 | at Mia. | L 7-19 | 8 | 5 | 56 | 11.2 | 0 |
| 2020 | 14 | Dall. | L 7-30 | 8 | 5 | 49 | 9.8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 15 | Pitt. | W 27-17 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 16 | at Hou. | W 37-31 | 9 | 6 | 99 | 16.5 | 1 |
| 2022 | 8 | at Cle. | L 13-32 | 6 | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 1 |
| 2022 | 9 | Car. | W 42-21 | 8 | 7 | 60 | 8.6 | 0 |
| 2022 | 11 | at Pitt. | W 37-30 | 13 | 9 | 148 | 16.4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 12 | at Ten. | W 20-16 | 9 | 7 | 114 | 16.3 | 1 |
| 2023 | 16 | at Pitt. | L 11-34 | 8 | 5 | 140 | 28.0 | 1 |
—Ian Allan