Earlier this week, Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown made a very telling — and very 88-year-old — statement when he said, “You just can't pay people willy nilly,” in regards to the team's inability to reach a potential deal with star wide receiver Tee Higgins. Higgins, who requested a trade back in March amidst failed contract negotiations, wound up signing the franchise tag earlier this summer, and after taking the field for the start of training camp, Higgins spoke about his decision to play out the year on the tag.
“Obviously there wasn't no moves being made upstairs,” said Higgins, according to Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “So I pretty much knew this [is] what it was and I was just like, ‘I'm going to go ahead and just sign it and just kill all the noise and just get everybody off my back.'”
Nine times out of ten, “noise” in the offseason is nothing but a distraction, and since March, it's been a very loud and repeated question of what the eventual outcome would be in this standoff between Tee Higgins and the Cincinnati Bengals. If Higgins were to hold out and stand firm on his request to be traded, it could sour what could end up being a very sweet season of Bengals football.
“It's just good to not see my name on the headlines, you know what I'm saying?” Higgins said. “It's just good to get it done just so I could focus on myself.”
Bengals counting on a fully invested Tee Higgins
Given the fact that Tee Higgins will be playing without the safety net of a longterm deal, it's understandable that he would have had to work through some reservations about returning to the field for a team that wasn't willing to provide him that security. And when Higgins spoke to the media, he acknowledged that it was something on his mind.
“I'm a guy that likes to work at the end of the day,” Higgins said. “I've just got to stay healthy this year. As long as I'm healthy, I'm good.”
Tee Higgins, who has topped the 900 yard mark in each of the three seasons he's played at least fourteen games, will be a big part of a Cincinnati offense that expects to be one of the best in the league with the return of Slim Shady Joe Burrow. Burrow, who has benefitted from playing alongside both Higgins and former college teammate Ja'Marr Chase each of the last three seasons, is confident that his No. 2 weapon will be locked in and ready to go with the season starting soon.
“I'm not entirely sure what his plan is at this point, but I know he's with us 100%,” Joe Burrow said. “When he's ready to come back out there and practice, we'll be ready to have him. And I know that he's going to be physically and mentally ready.”
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