Opposing assistant coach thinks the Bengals are making the wrong decision
There have been rumblings in recent weeks that the Cincinnati Bengals are working on an extension with wide receiver Tee Higgins. That news — if it's accurate — comes as a bit of a surprise despite Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin's comments earlier this offseason that Cincinnati would like to extend Higgins. The […]
There have been rumblings in recent weeks that the Cincinnati Bengals are working on an extension with wide receiver Tee Higgins.
That news — if it's accurate — comes as a bit of a surprise despite Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin's comments earlier this offseason that Cincinnati would like to extend Higgins.
The Bengals' main objective this offseason is working out an extension with quarterback Joe Burrow — which is why the Higgins rumors were unexpected.
An anonymous NFL assistant coach recently spoke to The Athletic about Higgins and the Bengals.
And that assistant made it clear that he thinks Cincinnati should move on from Higgins and allocate those resources elsewhere.
“Higgins is good, but I think you let Higgins walk,” said the assistant coach to The Athletic. “Honestly, you may want to try to trade him this year while there’s value and then go draft a young receiver. He’s really good in that system. He’s a good receiver, but I don’t think he’s so dynamic that you can’t replace his value or production. Chase is going to command so much more attention, that whoever is playing opposite of him is going to get favorable matchups.”
An anonymous front office executive shared the same sentiment when it comes to Higgins.
“If it was me and I’m Cincinnati and they have a little bit of a runway from the success over the past two years, I would look for the replacement,” said the executive. “I would go heavy on signing (Burrow) and Ja’Marr Chase and let Tee Higgins play out the year and look for his replacement. Or if there is some unbelievable trade option, consider that.”
The Athletic's Jeff Howe pointed out that four teams paid their wide receivers over $45 million collectively last season. And none of those teams won a playoff game (Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, and Las Vegas Raiders).
Higgins is a great player and he's popular in Cincinnati. But having an expensive group of wide receivers doesn't always equate to playoff wins. The Bengals might be wise to try to replace Higgins through the draft and use the savings on other needs (offensive line, secondary).
The last thing the Bengals want to do is create a salary cap situation that limits the ability to build a competitive roster around Burrow and Chase. Higgins, unfortunately, might hinder the team's ability to compete for a championship more than he helps.
