Bengals reportedly want to sign wide receiver Tee Higgins to a long-term contract, but they may tag him

The Cincinnati Bengals are prepared to utilize a franchise tag once more for the 2025 season, despite their efforts to negotiate a long-term deal with wide receiver Tee Higgins, according to many media sources on Monday.

You can place a franchise tag between February 18 and March 4. Higgins was paid $21.8 million for his one-year tenure as the team’s designated franchise player. $26.18 million, the average of the top five wide receiver contracts from the previous season, would be guaranteed by the franchise tag in 2025.

The Bengals may use a non-exclusive tag on Higgins to buy themselves more time to negotiate a contract extension, according to reports on Monday. The team that contracts him must pay Cincinnati two first-round draft selections, which is a hefty price, but he will be allowed to bargain with other teams.

The Bengals have until July 15 to negotiate a contract extension with Higgins once he is tagged, after which the one-year agreement becomes final.

In an effort to maintain the combo, Cincinnati is also thinking about extending the contract of standout wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, 24, and evaluating the future of defensive end Trey Hendrickson, 30, who led the NFL in sacks (17.5) the previous season. Both Chase and Hendrickson were named to the 2024 first team All-Pro and have been selected to the Pro Bowl four times.

In the second round (33rd overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft, Higgins was chosen by the Bengals.

He caught 73 passes for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns in 12 games last season, starting nine of them. In 2023, he only participated in 12 games (11 starts) because to hamstring problems. Higgins has caught 330 passes for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns in 70 games during his career, including 62 starts.