This offseason, the Bengals made it very clear they wanted to retain WR Tee Higgins. At 25, the former second-round pick just finished the final season of his rookie deal. Cincinnati made Higgins the first player to be franchise-tagged this offseason, showing their interest in keeping the talented WR. 

Higgins was set to make $21.8 million on a one-year franchise tag for 2024. However, the young WR is betting on himself and has requested a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals. His frustrations grew after not being able to get a long-term deal done. Now, Higgins is looking to play elsewhere. We’ll have to see if the Bengals honor his trade request and move on from Higgins. There is also the chance he does play out that one-year deal and becomes a free agent for 2025.

Will the Bengals end up trading WR Tee Higgins this offseason

Bengals franchise WR Tee Higgins has requested a trade, per sources. Higgins loves Cincinnati and hoped to be with the team long term, but is disappointed that the team has not had any talks about a long-term contract extension since March 2023. He’s ready to move on to a new… pic.twitter.com/T0qy7uMu8n

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2024

In the 2020 NFL Draft, WR Tee Higgins was the first pick of the second round, being selected by the Bengals. During that same draft, Cincinnati selected QB Joe Burrow first overall. Tee Higgins and himself were a nice pairing as rookies. However, the Bengals went out and drafted Burrow’s former teammate Ja’Marr Chase out of LSU in 2021. He quickly replaced Higgins and instantly became Burrow’s #1 target.

Tee Higgins still had solid production as a WR2 but has been held back by the Bengals. That could be another reason why the 25-year-old wants a change of scenery this offseason. While this is a WR-heavy draft class in 2024, teams are always looking for win-now talent. That is what Higgins could provide to his next team if traded by the Bengals.

BREAKING: Tee Higgins has requested a trade, per @AdamSchefter pic.twitter.com/JgRoZjrO9r

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) March 11, 2024

According to Higgins, the Bengals have not contacted him or anyone in his party about a long-term deal since March 2023. That speaks volumes to how Cincinnati was planning this all out. They were banking on Higgins being fine with playing on the one-year franchise tag. He was for roughly a month but now the WR has requested a trade from the Bengals. What will the Bengals be looking for in return if they do trade Higgins We’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening with the 25-year-old WR with a ton of unlocked potential.