Tee Higgins requests trade from Bengals: Source

Written by Paul Dehner Jr., Jeff Howe and Larry Holder

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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins requested a trade Sunday, a league source confirmed. Higgins hasn’t been happy with the lack of discussions since being franchise tagged in late February.

Higgins, 25, finished with 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns over an injury-shortened 12 games last season. He’s surpassed 1,000 receiving yards twice (2021, 2022) since the Bengals drafted him with the 33rd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Over his four seasons in Cincinnati, Higgins has struggled with nagging injuries. He has played in 58 of a possible 66 games in his career, but with a handful of in-game injuries and limited participation, he has never posted a regular season with more than 805 offensive snaps. That came in his rookie season.

The Bengals have used the franchise tag twice in the last four offseasons, tagging Jessie Bates III in 2022 at $12.9 million and A.J. Green in 2020 at $18.2 million. Before that, their last usage was in 2013 with defensive end Michael Johnson.

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Cincinnati has gone down this road before. Each of the last two seasons, in fact.

Higgins has followed the Bates path almost exactly in dealing with the clients of combative agent David Mulugheta. In Bates’ franchise tag year, he didn’t request a trade, that we know of, but did not report for the offseason program or any of training camp. He eventually arrived just before the season, signed the tag and played well on a team that went to the AFC Championship Game.

Last year, Jonah Williams requested a trade after the Bengals signed Orlando Brown Jr. out of nowhere in free agency. Once cooler heads prevailed, Williams showed up for his fifth-year option season in training camp, happily switched to the right side, played well and boosted his value. Cincinnati has gone down this path often and recently, such requests rarely move the needle with them.

The Bengals acknowledged this wouldn’t be an easy process both in the possibility of fielding trade requests not knowing what would unfold with his relationship. Remember, they didn’t pretend for a second they were going to try to do a long-term deal with Higgins. They tagged him as soon as the period opened.

Cincinnati was not holding that back in negotiations. There were no negotiations. Just as his agent stated today, there have not been since last March. Zac Taylor said in Indianapolis they will be relying on their relationships with Higgins and those inside the team to power through what will be a challenging offseason.

“We take a lot of value in the relationship that we have with Tee for moments like this, because it is the business side,” Taylor said. “I understand. It can be frustrating. Tee has not given me any of that, you know, and so again, we’re just excited to take this offseason and see where it goes from there. But expect huge things from Tee next year. He’s gonna be a big part of the success that we have. He knows that, we know that and so I’m just excited to get the season see what he can do for us.”

The tag-and-trade has always been an option. The Bengals have listened, but there wasn’t much cooking at the combine. They will need a significant haul to give up a year of Higgins. They have never been known to find a trade that works well for both sides, only those where they clearly come away looking like the winners.

That’s a problem in this situation. They have never been willing trade partners, so the idea of pulling one off here is increasingly difficult when teams have many other options. Cincinnati wants to play the 2024 season with Higgins, that’s what matters most to it.

That is not in jeopardy by today’s news, but it is a significant distraction that will hover over the Bengals’ offseason.

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(Photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)