Things are looking up for Tee Higgins. He’s best of the wide receivers who are available in this offseason.
Higgins missed five games last year, but he was productive when he was out there. Despite operating in Ja’Marr Chase’s shadow, he caught 73 passes, including 10 touchdowns. Higgins made that strong closing argument against the Broncos, catching 11 passes for 131 yards and 3 TDs in December.
Most notably, Higgins is only 26. That makes him look a whole lot more appealing than Davante Adams, Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins, who are all 32. Stefon Diggs and Brandin Cooks are both 31. Amari Cooper and Mike Williams are both 30, and both are coming off subpar seasons.
Cooper Kupp and Deebo Samuel are both available but aren’t free agents at this point (their teams are hoping to trade them). Kupp is almost 32, while Samuel is 29. In the case of Samuel, however, the 49ers are unlikely to simply cut him loose.
There are a few notable younger receivers available – Hollywood Brown (27), Chris Godwin (28), Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (27) and Diontae Johnson (28), but they don’t move the needle like Higgins.
Joe Burrow has been lobbying for the Bengals to re-sign Higgins, but that might not be possible. Chase and Trey Hendrickson led the league in receiving and sacks last year, and they both want new contracts. And Cincinnati needs to shore up its leaky defense.
The Bengals could use the franchise tag on Higgins, but they went that route last year. If they want to tag him again, it would require them paying him $26.2 million for the coming season. That might not fit into their budget.
I think he’ll be hitting the market, and that he’ll be getting the attention of a receiver-needy team like the Patriots or Chargers. Higgins’ former coordinator, Brian Callahan, is now coaching the Titans, so there’s a connection there.
I think he’s going, and I think he’s going to get a jackpot type deal.
| AVAILABLE WIDE RECEIVERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Age | Tm | G | Rec | Yds | TD | Tgt | Avg |
| Davante Adams (cut) | 32.1 | NYJ | 14 | 85 | 1063 | 8 | 141 | 12.5 |
| • Tee Higgins | 26.0 | Cin. | 12 | 73 | 911 | 10 | 109 | 12.5 |
| Keenan Allen | 32.8 | Chi. | 15 | 70 | 744 | 7 | 121 | 10.6 |
| Cooper Kupp (cut/trade) | 31.7 | LAR | 12 | 67 | 710 | 6 | 100 | 10.6 |
| Deebo Samuel (trade) | 29.1 | S.F. | 15 | 51 | 670 | 3 | 81 | 13.1 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 32.7 | K.C. | 16 | 56 | 610 | 5 | 80 | 10.9 |
| Chris Godwin | 28.9 | T.B. | 7 | 50 | 576 | 5 | 62 | 11.5 |
| Darius Slayton | 28.1 | NYG | 16 | 39 | 573 | 2 | 71 | 14.7 |
| Amari Cooper | 30.6 | Buff. | 14 | 44 | 547 | 4 | 85 | 12.4 |
| Elijah Moore | 24.8 | Cle. | 17 | 61 | 538 | 1 | 102 | 8.8 |
| Demarcus Robinson | 30.3 | LAR | 17 | 31 | 505 | 7 | 64 | 16.3 |
| Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | 27.8 | Ten. | 17 | 32 | 497 | 9 | 60 | 15.5 |
| Stefon Diggs | 31.2 | Hou. | 8 | 47 | 496 | 3 | 64 | 10.6 |
| Tyler Boyd | 30.2 | Ten. | 16 | 39 | 390 | 0 | 57 | 10.0 |
| Mack Hollins | 31.3 | Buff. | 17 | 31 | 378 | 5 | 50 | 12.2 |
| Diontae Johnson | 28.6 | Balt. | 12 | 33 | 375 | 3 | 67 | 11.4 |
| Mike Williams | 30.3 | Pitt. | 18 | 21 | 298 | 1 | 34 | 14.2 |
| Brandin Cooks | 31.3 | Dall. | 10 | 26 | 259 | 3 | 54 | 10.0 |
| Nelson Agholor | 31.7 | Balt. | 14 | 14 | 231 | 2 | 29 | 16.5 |
| Robert Woods | 32.8 | Hou. | 15 | 20 | 203 | 0 | 30 | 10.2 |
| Marquise Brown | 27.7 | K.C. | 2 | 9 | 91 | 0 | 15 | 10.1 |
| K.J. Osborn | 27.7 | Was. | 8 | 7 | 57 | 1 | 18 | 8.1 |
—Ian Allan