CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals have placed the franchise tag on wide receiver Tee Higgins for the second straight season.
Higgins himself first tweeted "tag" on social media Monday afternoon. ESPN's Adam Schefter later confirmed the news, reporting the Bengals placed the $26.2 million franchise tag on Higgins.
The news comes just days after Duke Tobin, director of player personnel for the Bengals, said the team's hope was to sign the 26-year-old to a long-term deal.
"Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player, and I want him on my football team," Tobin said at the NFL combine. "Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement ... and we'll work hard to get that done."
Of course, Cincinnati has also emphasized its plan to make fellow receiver Ja'Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league. Chase led the NFL in receptions, yards receiving and touchdowns this season. The Bengals picked up his fifth-year option but will likely end up giving him a long-term deal somewhere around $40 million a year.
"The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team," Tobin said at the combine. "We have other needs that we want to build, and so we want to get these kinds of things done early enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team, but they’re all priorities to us but the ones that aren’t signed, are the ones that are on the table first."
Giving Higgins the franchise tag means Joe Burrow will keep his favorite targets for at least one more season. However, Higgins was adamant last season that he did not enjoy playing without a long-term deal. He requested a trade after first receiving the tag in March 2024.
