CINCINNATI – Ever since Tee Higgins requested a trade from the Cincinnati Bengals on March 11, one of the biggest questions has been whether any teams would be interested in offering what it would take to land him, especially given the talent available in this year’s draft class.
The answer came today. Sort of.
The Houston Texans traded a second-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs, along with a fifth-round pick this year and a sixth-round pick in 2025.
Could Tee Higgins, Bengals Feel Ripple of Stefon Diggs Trade?
Other than the fact that Higgins and Diggs are both receivers and the Bengals and Bills are both NFL teams, there aren’t a lot of comps to draw from the two situations.
The Bengals have said they would listen to offers, but hearing is one thing, and acting is another.
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.
That’s not veiled bargaining. It’s the honest reality.
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.
#Jets CB Sauce Gardner slams #Bills WR Stefon Diggs, leading to a scuffle between both teams 😯#TakeFlight | #BillsMafia
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) November 19, 2023
The discontent between the Bills and Diggs has ranged from seething ire to passive aggressive for a couple of years.
Buffalo swung and missed when it sold out and went all in on trying to a win a championship a few years ago. The Bills could set an NFL record for dead money in 2024, with Diggs’ $31 million adding to the pile created when they purged several defensive starters ahead of free agency.
So Buffalo was looking to move on from Diggs by any means possible. 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.
In addition to the level of hostility between player and team, there’s also the issue of where the receivers are chronologically.
Diggs will be 31 in November. Higgins won’t turn 26 until the 2024 regular season ends.
Tee Higgins with an absolute GROWN MAN MOVE on a play of the year candidate that ties it up with less than a minute left❕❕❕#RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/vBzwLr1cyl
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) December 16, 2023
The chances of the Bengals trading Higgins are as small as they were before the Diggs trade happened. It doesn’t change anything.
The Diggs-Higgins situations are as “apples and oranges” as it gets.
The real comp for Higgins’ current situation is what we saw in 2023, when Cincinnati offensive tackle Jonah Williams requested a trade. The Bengals ignored it, and Williams showed up and played and had the best year of his career, leading to a two-year, $30 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
Look for Higgins to do the same thing — show up, shut up, play his ass off, and get paid next spring in free agency.
The closest Higgins and Diggs will come to being in a similar situation will be a win-or-go-home one if the Bengals and Texans end up meeting in the playoffs.
KEEP READING: How Soon Does Cincinnati Grab Tee Higgins’ Replacement?
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