Bengals receiver Tee Higgins has asked for a trade. His request has been deliberately leaked to the media. And now we wait to see if anyone will make the Bengals an offer.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, that hadn’t happened before today. The Bengals hadn’t even gotten a call about a potential trade.
That’s possibly because other teams didn’t think Higgins would be available, even though he’s been franchise tagged. The Bengals can be stubborn, to say the least. They tagged Higgins and they’ve made it clear they want to keep him.
By Higgins asking for a trade, maybe others will call. Maybe that won’t matter to the Bengals.
The trade request comes not from a desire to leave Cincinnati but from a desire to spark talks on a long-term deal. If other teams make their interest in Higgins known by calling the Bengals, maybe it will work.
Regardless, making the trade request has no real downside. Higgins had his path to a significant payday blocked by the franchise tag. He has every right to use all means at his disposal to try to turn that tag into a long-term deal.
