3 fallback plans for the Chargers after Tee Higgins franchise tag

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The Los Angeles Chargers won’t be able to get their hands on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins this offseason, barring a shocking tag-and-trade scenario after he received a second franchise tag.
As such, the Chargers are on to other options as they seek to help out breakout rookie Ladd McConkey via free agency and the draft.
Here’s a quick look at a few options the Chargers could consider after Higgins got yanked off the market.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin
Godwin is elite and still under 30 years old, but he’s coming off a dislocated ankle that limited him to seven games last year. If the Bucs actually let him slip away, he’s the only real blockbuster move on the market. But that means huge dollar signs, which the Chargers might not want to do anyway.
Texans WR Stefon Diggs
A trend is forming already when it comes to wideouts actually hitting the market. Diggs is now 31 years old and coming off a torn ACL that ended his season. He’s now in that curious Odell Beckham Jr. limbo where it’s worth wondering just how much he has left and if a team like the Chargers would want to take the risk.
RELATED: Chargers: Unexpected free agent is 'buzzworthy' around NFL before market opens
Davante Adams (and/or Keenan Allen and/or Mike Williams?)
Adams should be a free agent before long, given that he’s 32 years old and obviously on his way out the door with the New York Jets. He wants to go back to the West Coast, making the Chargers an option. He also just happened to tag Keenan Allen in film-related posts, too.
Allen, the former Chargers great, is also scheduled to be a free agent and might make more sense than anyone, considering he has the advantage of already having lots of reps with Justin Herbert. So does Mike Williams, but his chaotic season with the Jets and others makes him more unlikely.

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Chris Roling has covered the NFL since 2010 with stints at Bleacher Report, USA TODAY Sports Media Group and others. Raised a Bengals fan in the '90s, the Andy Dalton era was smooth sailing by comparison. He graduated from the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University and remains in Athens.
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