Bengals on Tee Higgins commerce rumors
INDIANAPOLIS — The Cincinnati Bengals emphatically let the remainder of the NFL know that large receiver Tee Higgins is not on the buying and selling block.
During his annual session on the NFL scouting mix, staff government Duke Tobin refuted any notion that the staff may very well be concerned with purchasing the standout receiver this offseason. The staff’s longtime director of participant personnel mentioned groups have not offered any affords, and in the event that they did, buying and selling Higgins wasn’t a thought.
“If they want a receiver, go find your own,” Tobin mentioned Tuesday. “In my opinion, Tee Higgins is a good piece for the Cincinnati Bengals. The trade stuff is a little ridiculous right now.”
Higgins, a third-year participant, is about to enter the ultimate 12 months of his rookie contract. He is one among a number of gamers who can be up for contract extensions this 12 months or subsequent, together with quarterback Joe Burrow and fellow receiver Ja’Marr Chase.
Since getting into the league in 2020, Higgins has been one of the productive receivers within the league. According to ESPN Stats & Information analysis, the previous Clemson standout is one among 15 gamers to have 3,000 complete receiving yards. In 2022, the second-round decide had his second consecutive 1,000-yard season.
That manufacturing has prolonged into the staff’s final two postseason runs as properly. In Cincinnati’s Super Bowl LVI loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Higgins had 4 catches for 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In Cincinnati’s AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs that ended the Bengals’ most up-to-date season, Higgins had a team-high 83 receiving yards and a landing within the 23-20 loss at Arrowhead Stadium.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor mentioned that he laughed off any chatter concerning the staff dealing Higgins this season.
“That’s why whenever you see the rumors floating around there, it’s nonsense,” Taylor mentioned contained in the Indiana Convention Center. “At the end of the day, I do get to call the plays and it’s fun having [playmakers] out there. You don’t really want to give that up.”
Higgins represents a $4 million cap hit for the Bengals in 2023 as they search to determine the futures of a number of notable gamers, together with Burrow.
Tobin mentioned the staff has a tough estimate as to how a lot Burrow’s potential contract extension may cost because the staff prepares to enter free company, which begins the week of March 12.
However, the staff doesn’t have a set deadline as to when the contract can be accomplished because the franchise quarterback enters his fourth 12 months within the NFL.
“I have been pretty vocal about what Joe means to us, and my job is to facilitate his success as best I can with putting pieces around him, and his contract will get done when it gets done,” Tobin mentioned. “But it’s a good problem to have. He’s a vital part of what we’re doing.”
Tobin and Taylor made it clear that Higgins is a part of the staff’s current success. The Bengals have received the AFC North in back-to-back seasons and reached no less than the AFC Championship Game in each of these years, splitting two video games in opposition to Kansas City. Tobin, who acts because the staff’s de facto basic supervisor, mentioned Higgins is strictly who Cincinnati hopes for when it acquires a participant within the draft.
“I envision him being part of what we do going forward for a long time,” Tobin mentioned. “That’s the hope. We want our guys — especially our guys that come in and prove that they can help us win in a big way.”