Sports Illustrated’s James Rapien reports “the Bengals plan to use the franchise tag on Tee Higgins” this offseason.
Rapien reports that “Higgins’ camp expects to get tagged at this point,” which would keep the fifth-year receiver from hitting the free agent market. He also adds that this time, the decision to tag Higgins “feels different,” while adding “the Bengals plan to sign the star receiver to a long-term deal,” per his sources. While we don’t know when a deal could come, it sounds like Joe Burrow’s offseason lobbying has been heard by the Bengals’ front office, who have several big-name players to work out deals with. In addition to Higgins, the Bengals need to get Ja’Marr Chase’s contract figured out this offseason, and Burrow has also lobbied for the team to bring back tight end Mike Gesicki. Teams can tag players starting on February 18th at 4 p.m. EST. It’s possible we’ll know more on this decision in the next 24 hours.