NFL Executive States Bengals 'Should Have' Traded Tee Higgins Instead of Inking New Deal

Cincinnati paid its top-two wide receivers this offseason.

Dec 28, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Denver Broncos in the first half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — NFL executives gave their thoughts on the Bengals offseason moves to The Athletic's Mike Sando this week. The big topic to start was Cincinnati paying both Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase new deals.

One executive thinks they should've paid Trey Hendrickson a new deal and traded Higgins on the franchise tag. Cincinnati signed Higgins to a four-year, $115 million deal, while Chase inked a four-year extension worth $161 million.

“They definitely needed to retain Chase, and then Higgins should have been a tag-and-trade candidate because you need the draft capital and you have to rebuild your defense,” an exec said to Sando. “You could have made Trey Hendrickson happy (with a new deal) and have a draft pick if you moved on from Higgins.”

Cincinnati could still sign all three, as negotiations continue with Trey Hendrickson. Until he's happily signed or traded, Cincinnati's defense is in rough, rough shape.

“The thought of keeping their quarterback happy is good,” another exec told Sando. “But how can you build around him to get him where he needs to go? I’m going to go with fronts and defense over skill, especially when you already have one of the highest-paid receivers. To sign another one (Higgins) is interesting to me.”

Another comment surfaced on the team bringing guard Lucas Patrick in on a one-year, $2.1 million deal. That executive is worried about him transitioning to Cincinnati's system if he has to play a lot of meaningful snaps protecting Joe Burrow.

“They got a nice bargain signing with Lucas Patrick,” that exec said, “but he just played his best football with Klint Kubiak’s system in New Orleans, which is nothing like the pure dropback game in Cincy, where they try to throw the ball all over the yard.”

Check out Sando's full article with every comment here.

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