Packer Central

Potential Packers Free-Agent Target Tee Higgins: Future ‘Not in My Hands’

There are some legitimate questions about Tee Higgins at the start of free agency but there’s no ignoring the impact he made for the Bengals in 2024.

Bill Huber

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (85) catches a two-point conversion against the Green Bay Packers.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (85) catches a two-point conversion against the Green Bay Packers. / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – If the Green Bay Packers decide their young receiver corps needs a high-quality veteran, Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins could be at the top of the list in NFL free agency.

Higgins, who played under the franchise tag in 2024, will be the No. 1 receiver in free agency if he hits the market. At age 26, the Packers are expected to be interested.

While Packers running back Josh Jacobs pushed management to add a proven veteran receiver while at the Super Bowl last week, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow also was in New Orleans, where he pushed the front office to find a way to bring back Higgins.

“That’s what it’s all about: another brother looking out for his brother. He’s putting that pressure on the front office,” Higgins told Joe Danneman of Fox 19 in Cincinnati. “You never know what the future holds.”

The Packers bypassed Higgins with their first-round pick in 2020, instead opting to trade up for quarterback Jordan Love. Higgins wound up being the first pick of the second round. In five seasons, he has 330 receptions for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Higgins not only has emerged as one of the better receivers in the NFL, but he’s embraced life in Cincinnati – “it’s like a second home” – and has been active in the community.

“Obviously, I would love to be here. I love it here, I love the city, I love the fans, I love the coaching staff, everything in the building, but it’s not in my control,” Higgins said.

Higgins had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for the Bengals in 2021 and 2022. In 12 games in 2024, he caught 73 passes for 911 yards and scored a career-high 10 touchdowns.

While Ja’Marr Chase is the team’s star receiver, Higgins has been a critical part of the team’s success. Burrow finished fourth in the NFL MVP race in 2022 and 2024, due in no small part to Higgins’ production. In Burrow’s three healthy seasons, Higgins was a key factor in the Bengals finishing seventh in scoring in 2021, seventh in 2022 and sixth in 2024.

“Yeah, of course, we all want to keep the core pieces what it is, even with (tight end) Mike Gesicki,” Higgins said. “That's a core piece, as well. So, obviously, we want to build something here in Cincy. But, you know, it's not in my hands right now. I’ve got to do what I need to do and, if that's go to another team, then that's what happens.”

NFL free agency will start in a month. He’s put himself in position to earn job security and an enormous contract.

“Tee’s a phenomenal player,” Love told ESPN at the Super Bowl. “If you add a really good player to a really good offense, I think the sky’s the limit. You can take it in pretty cool places.”

After choosing Love in 2020, could the Packers choose to bring them together in 2025?

Perhaps, but it won’t come cheap, even with legitimate questions about health (missed five games each of the last two seasons) and whether he can be a No. 1 receiver after thriving with Chase.

Pro Football Focus, which ranks Higgins as the No. 1 player in free agency, is projecting a four-year contract worth $28 million per season.

That’s a lot of money, but the Bengals went 8-4 when Higgins played in 2024. In those four losses, they scored at least 33 points in three games and 27 in the other, when Higgins had nine catches for 148 yards and one touchdown.

“Coming into the season, I thought I had my best offseason since I’ve been in the league,” Higgins said. “I came in healthy, ready to go and then, obviously, the injury before Week 1, I was devastated.”

Higgins missed the first two games and then three more games at midseason. He played in each of the final six, with the Bengals losing 44-38 to Pittsburgh before winning the final five games of the regular season.

“That last little stretch, I did what I needed to do and it helped me out and I feel like I proved my worth,” he said.

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.