Tee Higgins will return to Cincinnati next season as Bengals use $21.8m, fully guaranteed…

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is set to return for the 2024 NFL season. 

On Friday, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the Bengals plan to use their franchise tag on the 25-year-old. Rapoport added that Higgins’ franchise tag number is expected to be about $21.8m, fully guaranteed. 

The deadline for Cincinnati to sign him on a long-term deal is March 5 with Higgins being the first franchise tag player this offseason. 

Despite having to battle through a fractured rib, hamstring and ankle injuries this past season, Higgins proved to be a reliable target for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. Cincinnati’s offense began to build around them and three-time Pro Bowler Ja’Marr Chase playing parallel to Higgins. 

The Bengals drafted Higgins out of Clemson in 2020 and he now enters his fifth season in Cincinnati. In 12 appearances this past season, Higgins tallied 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns. 

Higgins proved to be a reliable target for quarterback Joe Burrow alongside Ja’Marr Chase 

Higgins had 42 receptions for 656 yards and five touchdowns in 12 games this past season 

Higgins was part of the Bengals’ historic season in 2021 when the team won its first first AFC title since 2015 by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs. Despite coming up short against the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl, the young core of Burrow, Chase, Higgins and Joe Mixon was on full display throughout their run. 

Although the Bengals missed the playoffs in the 2023 season, their 9-8 record still gave head coach Zac Taylor his third straight year above .500. He and the team did so despite injuries to key players in the offense. 

Burrow was ruled out in November with a torn ligament in his right wrist. With their franchise quarterback sidelined, Jake Browning finished the rest of the season and went 4-3 as a starter. 

With Browning facilitating the offense, Higgins recorded a season-high 140 receiving yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16. 

Shortly after their season ended, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin expressed his interest in bringing Higgins back in 2024. With his franchise tag, Cincinnati’s young core remains intact for at least one more season. 

‘We’ll see what happens this year,’ Tobin said in January. ‘I want Tee Higgins back. Everyone on our team would like to have Tee Higgins back. Again, there’s one pie and how big of a slice that takes and what else we can’t do because of it, we’ll have to determine and we’ll see.’