Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins will not be signing a contract extension before the Monday deadline, according to a report from NFL Network. This means that he will become a free agent next offseason and will likely attract a lot of interest from other teams.
Higgins, who is 25 years old, signed a franchise tag worth $21.8 million back in June and will play the 2024 season under that deal. Out of the eight NFL players who were given the franchise tag this offseason, Higgins is the only one who has not agreed to an extension.
Throughout the offseason, Higgins has not participated in any activities with the Bengals, including a mandatory minicamp in June. There were reports that he requested a trade back in March, indicating that he may not be fully committed to staying with the team.
In the 2023 season, Higgins was hampered by hamstring and rib injuries which caused him to miss five games. Despite this, he still managed to catch 42 passes for 656 yards and scored five touchdowns. Since being drafted in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft from Clemson, Higgins has played in 58 regular-season games, starting in 53 of them. He has accumulated 257 receptions for 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns. Additionally, he has 31 receptions for 457 yards and three touchdowns in seven playoff games.
It will be interesting to see how the situation with Tee Higgins unfolds as the deadline approaches. The Bengals will have to decide whether they want to risk losing him in free agency or if they will try to work out a deal before it’s too late. Higgins’s performance on the field has shown that he is a valuable asset, and there will likely be plenty of teams interested in acquiring his talents if he hits the open market. Stay tuned for more updates on this developing story.