CINCINNATI — There will be no repeat of the Jessie Bates drama of 2022 when it comes to star receiver Tee Higgins.
Per Adam Schefter, the 25-year-old Bengals weapon on Saturday signed his $21.8 million franchise tag tender and expressed his intent on showing up at Bengals training camp in late July, ready to prepare for a big 2024 season, both in statistics and significance.
Higgins has had a number of momentous highlights with the Bengals, including his 75-yard TD grab from Joe Burrow against Jalen Ramsey to open the second half of Super Bowl LVI. He also caught another TD on a pass from Joe Mixon. His acrobatic one-hand extension against the Vikings last December stands as one of the most memorable grabs in recent Bengal history. He has some of the strongest hands in the game and has shown them on numerous occasions over his first four seasons in the NFL.
In 2022, Bates didn’t sign until before the final preseason game but went out and had a big season for the Bengals as their starting safety with Vonn Bell, coming off a Super Bowl season and leading the Bengals defense back to the AFC Championship.
Bates was rewarded with a four-year, $64 million deal from the Atlanta Falcons.
There are many angles to Higgins signing two days after minicamp ended. Here are the biggest:
The quarterback now knows his second most significant weapon will be on board to start camp. With a surgically repaired wrist to fully rehab and get ready for the season, being concerned about when Higgins might or might not show up is not something he needed to be concerned about.
“Tee and I are always talking. I've seen Tee several times this offseason. He looks great. Whenever he's ready to come back I'll be excited to see him.” Joe Burrow on Tee Higgins who signed his $21.8 million franchise tag Saturday pic.twitter.com/D0h1w17lPw
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 15, 2024
Higgins will now get paid – at least for one season. The $21.8 million is fully guaranteed and payable upon him signing the tender. Technically, it makes Higgins the highest-paid player in the NFL in base salary for 2024. The $21.8 million figure is also the cap hit number on the Bengals player roster. Both items, of course, the Bengals were already accounting for when they assembled their roster this offseason.
Joe Burrow is not the only one impacted in a positive nature by Higgins signing and committing to training camp. Higgins’s presence gives the Bengals a remarkably explosive and versatile set of receivers in Ja’Marr Chase, Higgins, Andrei Iosivas, Trenton Irwin, rookie Jermaine Burton, Charlie Jones and Shedrick Jackson. That group is as dynamic as any in the NFL. Having Higgins around at the start of camp should give Burrow, Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher a great idea of what they’ve got and how they can integrate them all into the attack.
This Tee Higgins catch is absolutely amazing. This is right up there with the famous OBJ catch! #Vikings #Bengals #MINvsCIN #NFL pic.twitter.com/KmapoOZwFg
— Ryon Johnson (@RyonJohnson) December 17, 2023
Zac Taylor had a detailed breakdown of the Higgins catch against the Vikings last year that forced overtime and led to the 27-24 overtime win.
‘’That’s why he’s one of the premier receivers in this league’’
Zac Taylor breaks down Tee Higgins insane 4th Qtr TD catch vs the Vikings #RuleTheJungle #Skol pic.twitter.com/IaJw4WqvNw
— Chris Renkel (@Chris_Renkel) December 18, 2023
While it’s not likely, signing Saturday does open whatever window there may be to extending Higgins. There are those who will point to the three-year, $84.75 million extension Jaylen Waddle ($76 million guaranteed) received in Miami as Tyreek Hill’s backup as evidence of a blueprint out there. But still David Mulugheta, Higgins’ agent, would like to pursue something more along the lines of Justin Jefferson’s four-year, $140 million deal or at least something in the range of A.J. Brown ($84 million GTD) or Amon-Ra St. Brown ($77 million GTD).
Higgins always knew he was going to play this season and he wasn’t going to sit out late into camp. But having the tag actually signed means that all parties can move forward and rest assured that there won’t be any watch ongoing like there was with Bates in 2022.
