Five-year veteran wide receiver Tee Higgins will not hit the open market, as the Bengals used the franchise tag to keep him with the team for at least one more season. Higgins, a former second-round pick, spent the entirety of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The #Bengals have, in fact, franchise tagged WR Tee Higgins a second time, per @teehiggins5.
No surprise, as Cincy is not in the business of letting good players walk away. They’ll hope to do a long-term deal after the more than $26M tag. pic.twitter.com/XW56WgiW6a
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2025
Cincinnati Bengals Use Franchise Tag on Tee Higgins
Higgins enters free agency on the heels of yet another dominant season. While injuries limited him to just 12 games, the Clemson product dominated while on the field. During his truncated season, Higgins recorded 73 receptions for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns on 109 targets. Paired with Ja’Marr Chase and catching passes from Joe Burrow, Cincinnati had one of the best offenses in football and narrowly missed the final spot in the playoff picture.
Tee Higgins originally entered the league as a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Selected by the Bengals, the Clemson product immediately developed a rapport with fellow rookie Joe Burrow. Appearing in all 16 games, Higgins finished his inaugural season with 67 receptions for 908 yards and six touchdowns. While most of that production came from Burrow, Higgins also found success with backup quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Ryan Finley.
The offense truly came alive under second-year quarterback Joe Burrow once Ja’Marr Chase joined the team in 2021. Playing a major role in Cincinnati’s immediate turnaround, Higgins finished the season with 74 receptions for 1,091 yards and six touchdowns in 14 games. After finishing with the fifth-overall pick in 2020, the Bengals made it to the Super Bowl in 2021 before narrowly losing to Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.
The big three returned in 2022 and Higgins put up a remarkably similar season, hauling in 74 receptions for 1,029 yards and seven touchdowns on 190 targets. Injuries limited him to 12 games in 2023, but he still recorded 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns while catching passes from a banged-up Joe Burrow and backup Jake Browning.
Since signing his rookie contract, Tee Higgins has played in 70 games while making 62 starts. While on the field, the Clemson product has recorded 330 receptions for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns.
Main Photo: Sam Greene – USA Today Sports
