Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said in January that he was expecting Tee Higgins to be back with the club in 2024.
Cincinnati has taken a step to make that happen by placing the franchise tag on the receiver. But there’s still a chance the club could entertain trade offers for Higgins.
Still, Burrow said in an interview over the weekend with ESPN’s Ben Baby that Higgins is particularly important for Cincinnati’s offense.
“Having him back this year,” Burrow said, “obviously, I hope we’re going to have him longer, but it’s exciting for me to have him this year and then it’s a nice little payday for him. Then hopefully he gets another one here soon.”
Burrow and Higgins were a part of the same 2020 draft class, when Burrow was the No. 1 overall pick and Higgins was selected at No. 33 overall to start the second round.
In 12 games last season, Higgins caught 42 passes for 656 yards with five touchdowns. He’s caught 257 passes for 3,684 yards with 24 touchdowns over the first 58 games of his career.