At this time last year, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin was steadfast about his refusal to consider trading wide receiver Tee Higgins ahead of his fourth season.
Tobin isn’t making any guarantees about Higgins remaining with the team this year. Higgins was under contract in 2023, but he’s not under contract in 2024 and Tobin said at the Senior Bowl on Tuesday that the team will have to figure out a way to keep Higgins while also addressing Ja’Marr Chase’s next deal and everything else that’s on the table this offseason.
“We like Ja’Marr. He’s in our long-term plans. He’s a high-level player in this league. And we want to keep those kinds of players on our team,” Tobin said, via the team’s website. “I want Tee Higgins back. Everyone on our team would like Tee Higgins back. There’s a pie and there are things we can do and can’t do because of it. We’ll see.”
Higgins posted 148 catches for 1,120 yards over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, but missed five games this year and had to settle for 42 catches for 656 yards. That’s still good enough to make him one of the top wideouts on the open market if he does actually get there in March.