Patriots Never Had Real Shot at Tee Higgins

The New England Patriots no longer appear to have a chance of landing Tee Higgins, as the Cincinnati Bengals are planning to slap a franchise tag on him for the second straight year.

While the Bengals' move to essentially take Higgins off the mark may make things officially for the Patriots, let's be brutally honest here: they never had much of a shot at landing Higgins to begin with.

New England went just 4-13 this past season and has made the playoffs just once in the last five years. That isn't exactly an attractant to top free agents, regardless of the fact that Drake Maye appears to be a budding star.

Maye by himself isn't enough to be a lure just yet. We still don't know if he is legitimately the Pats' quarterback of the future. Yes, he looked really good in Year 1, but we have seen plenty of quarterbacks get off to a great start and then quickly fall flat.

So why would Higgins have signed with the Pats, a team with the worst roster in football that does not really have a proven commodity under center?

It would have taken a lot for the 26-year-old to leave Cincinnati. He is currently playing with one of the best signal-callers in the sport in Joe Burrow, and while the Bengals missed the postseason in 2024, they are right on the doorstep. Let's also remember they are the only AFC team to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs the last six winters.

Yes, the Patriots could have offered Higgins a ton of money, but he said himself that getting paid like a No. 1 receiver was not his top priority. The signs were always there for New England, but many Pats fans chose to ignore them.

That's perfectly understandable, too. After all, the idea of seeing your team bag the best wide receiver on the market is tantalizing, to say the least. But remember: the Patriots struck out on Calvin Ridley last year, too. Why was Higgins going to be any different?

New England needs to build through the draft and shrewd signings and trades. Then, once the Pats show some actual progress, the top free agents will come.

But right now, in their current state? The Patriots never really had a legitimate chance of bringing Higgins to Foxborough.

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