Tee Higgins entered the 2024 NFL offseason listed as the most intriguing free agent available on the market. Then, even after earning the franchise tag, the Cincinnati Bengals‘ star wide receiver asked for a trade.
But on Sunday, Higgins revealed where he’s expecting to be once the league’s season starts up for 2024.
Tee Higgins Believes He’ll Return to Cincinnati
Speaking at his youth football camp in nearby Loveland, Ohio, Higgins revealed he expects to line back up for the Bengals this upcoming season.
“I do anticipate it,” Higgins said via Charlie Clifford of WLWT NBC 5 Cincinnati.
The Tennessee native said he’s happened to develop an affinity for Cincy.
“I’ve grown a love for Cincinnati that I didn’t think I would,” Higgins said.
New @WLWT: Tee Higgins says he does anticipate playing for the Bengals in 2024. pic.twitter.com/kMh0Lar8Ws
— Charlie Clifford (@char_cliff) April 14, 2024
Overall, he’s energized about where he believes he’ll play next season, and it’s with the team that he went to Super Bowl 56 with while forming a dangerous trio with fellow wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Higgins said.
Were Signs There Indicating Higgins’ Return Anyway?
With Higgins asking for a trade during the offseason, many fans and analysts believed the wide receiver would get potentially moved either before the NFL Draft or on draft day.
However, PFN Bengals reporter Jay Morrison has had his ear and eyes locked onto Cincy’s offseason — including the pending future of Higgins. Back in March during the NFL’s Owners Meeting in Orlando, Fla., Bengals head coach Zac Taylor himself was confident Higgins would return.
“We’re excited for Tee to have a great year for us,” Taylor said via Morrison at the AFC coach’s breakfast in Orlando.
In the mind of Taylor, Higgins can help lead the franchise back to its first Vince Lombardi Trophy after nearly winning it in the 2021 season.
“We think he’s our best chance to help us win a Super Bowl,” Taylor continued. “I’ve enjoyed working with Tee the last four years and expect this year to be no different.”
Yet, Morrison reported that the Bengals were willing to listen to offers for Higgins from teams interested in trading for him, but “acting on them is another matter in another universe.”
Nearly a week after the owner’s meeting, the NFL witnessed the bombshell trade involving Stefon Diggs, who was dealt from the Buffalo Bills to the Houston Texans in exchange for draft capital. That stunning deal left many fans wondering if Higgins could be next, plus what that trade package could look like.
However, Morrison addressed the matter on April 3. Every Bengal representative he talked to verbally illustrated a picture of Higgins coming back.
“Everyone from Cincinnati, director of player personnel Duke Tobin to head coach Zac Taylor to quarterback Joe Burrow, has talked about how important Higgins is to the offense and how much they want him to remain with the team in 2024,” Morrison wrote. “That’s not veiled bargaining. It’s the honest reality.”
He added that there’s no comparison between Diggs’ situation with Buffalo and Higgins’ with Cincinnati.
“Comparing Diggs’ level of displeasure with the Bills to that of Higgins’ with the Bengals is a fool’s errand. They’re not even close,” Morrison said.
KEEP READING: Cincinnati Bengals Draft Options — How Soon Do They Grab Tee Higgins’ Replacement?
Morrison concluded that Higgins only gets sent away through this scenario:
“The Bengals will only move on from Higgins if an offer comes along that soars above market value — and any pick acquired would need to be for 2024, not 2025, which is what the Bills settled for,” Morrison said.
But a deal like that is yet to be reportedly presented to the Bengals. And now, Higgins has unveiled his anticipated 2024 destination: It’s a return to Cincy.
