After months of positive talk surrounding the Cincinnati Bengals’ desire to keep Tee Higgins for the future, that issue appears to be settled. The Bengals have placed the franchise tag on their No. 2 receiver, locking him in for the 2025 season at $26.2 million.
Higgins responded to the development with a post that suggests his displeasure with the situation.
Cincinnati Bengals Franchise Tag Tee Higgins
The 2025 season will mark the second straight year that Higgins plays for Cincinnati on the franchise tag after the team tagged him in 2024. The 33rd overall pick in 2020, Higgins had long been expected to leave the Bengals in search of an alpha wide receiver contract with a new team.
The Bengals rallied in the second half of the 2024 season, narrowly missing the playoffs after a rough start. Speaking to reporters after the season, quarterback Joe Burrow suggested the team should do everything possible to keep the core of the roster together—including Higgins.
#Bengals QB Joe Burrow on impending FA Tee Higgins: "You don't want to make a habit of letting great players get out of the building. … You just can't let him get out of the building."
Message sent.pic.twitter.com/1Ul5TpSfVt
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 5, 2025
But that desire to keep the roster intact appears to have come at Higgins’ expense once again. While $26.2 million is no small sum, when the team’s director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, claimed less than a week earlier that he aimed to sign Higgins to a long-term deal, the player’s frustration is understandable.
Speaking at the NFL Combine, Tobin said of Higgins, “I think Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player, and I want him on my football team.”
On Higgins’ contract situation, Tobin added, “Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement. Always has been, it continues to be, and we’ll work hard to get that done.”
"I want (Tee Higgins) on my team."
Duke Tobin just now at the podium in Indy.
"Our preference is a long term agreement. We'll work hard to get that done."
Later said he's "optimistic" it gets done.
(Via @HolgateRegan and @GSorrentinoTV)#Bengals @Fox19 pic.twitter.com/DuwOfZ5zYD
— Jeremy Rauch (@FOX19Jeremy) February 25, 2025
Higgins Posts Blunt Reaction to Franchise Tag News
For the Bengals to place the franchise tag on Higgins just days after Tobin’s comments at the Combine likely didn’t sit well with the star receiver. Given Cincinnati’s financial situation—with Ja’Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson also in line for new deals—this outcome was perhaps inevitable.
That doesn’t make it any easier for Higgins, who will have to wait another year for a long-term veteran contract. Taking to his X account, Higgins broke the news himself with a blunt post, making his feelings clear.
tag.
— Tee Higgins⁵ (@teehiggins5) March 3, 2025
In what is considered a down year for wide receivers in the NFL Draft, Higgins would have had an outstanding market if the Bengals had let him walk. While it’s understandable that the team wanted to prevent that from happening, it represents a significant missed opportunity for the frustrated playmaker.
Given that injuries have limited him to just 20 starts over the past two seasons, there’s no guarantee the same kind of interest will be there for Higgins next year. Meanwhile, Chase is set to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, while Higgins will play on another one-year deal.
A $26.2 million salary is nothing to scoff at, but being overlooked for the second straight offseason might be one too many for Higgins to ignore in 2026.