Tee Higgins requests trade: 3 packages for to prise Bengals WR out of Cincinnati

Tee Higgins has officially requested a trade. The wide receiver was given the franchise tag with an expectation that a long-term deal would eventually be reached. Higgins wanted to stay in Cincinnati, but has now requested to go elsewhere.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter said on X, formerly known as Twitter:

"Bengals franchise WR Tee Higgins has requested a trade, per sources. Higgins loves Cincinnati and hoped to be with the team long term, but is disappointed that the team has not had any talks about a long-term contract extension since March 2023. He’s ready to move on to a new home."

The team has not engaged in any long-term talks with Higgins for an entire year. So after that frustration, Higgins doesn't see a long-term future with Cincinnati.

Even with the salary cap increase, it was always difficult to foresee the Bengals being able to keep Higgins, Ja'Marr Chase, Joe Burrow and other key FAs. Now, it looks like they weren't going to sign Higgins to a deal and just wanted to keep him there for another season.

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Exploring potential Tee Higgins trade packages

Teams now have the option to try and trade for Tee Higgins. The market for a player on a franchise tag is often difficult to gauge, but history tells us what other teams have done.

The Miami Dolphins, for example, tagged and traded Jarvis Landry. He fetched them a 2018 fourth-round pick and a 2019 seventh-rounder, so it wasn't a huge haul. Higgins is better, but the tag makes his value much lower than it otherwise would be. Teams could package a third-round pick and another day three pick to get the deal done.

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Carolina Panthers

For example, the Carolina Panthers, who desperately need a wide receiver, might consider sending a 2025 third, 2025 seventh, and a 2024 fourth to Cincinnati, who might take it.

They could also work something out with Brian Burns, who is also on the tag. Swapping the two players might make sense for both sides and it would allow their respective teams to fill needs.

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Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears could go in on providing their number one pick with an elite offense and send a 2024 third, 2024 sixth and 2025 sixth-round pick to add Higgins.

They have a boatload of picks to work with, so they could very easily pull off a trade and could likely outbid anyone else. Whether or not they want to remains to be seen, but giving a rookie QB DJ Moore and Tee Higgins is very enviable.

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Houston Texans

The Houston Texans could send a 2024 second-round pick (they have two firsts anyway) to Cincinatti and pair Higgins with Tank Dell and Nico Collins to give C.J. Stroud everything he could need.

The secondary aspect of this is the fact that the team trading for Higgins would likely need to commit to a long-term extension. That makes the Bears and Texans much more likely as a landing spot regardless of the returns offered.