The Cincinnati Bengals haven't found themselves in good graces across the football world in recent weeks. They have refused to pay up for star receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, exploring trades for the latter and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. They've ostracized their quarterback in the process, gutted the fanbase that seemingly wants a Super Bowl more than ownership.
And on the other side of those trade negotiations, it seems like the Bengals are consistently being shut down.
Cincinnati's procrastination and lack of creativity have combined with poor drafting to make a cap situation bordering on untenable – particularly if remaining competitive is top priority. Chase wants to be the NFL's highest-paid non-quarterback, which is now over $40 million per year. Neither Higgins nor Hendrickson figure to be too far behind.
Nevertheless, speculation has run rampant and teams have made calls, hoping to land one of these disgruntled talents. No deal seems imminent.
NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe revealed the Bengals' reason for cooling Higgins' trade rumors.
"I did check in with a couple rival teams around the league and see what that [trade] market is looking like. I was told that the asking price for Higgins is 'crazy,' from one person, very high, and so this seems like a situation where the Bengals are not in a position now with their asking price to trade him," Wolfe reported.
There's a few ways this can be interpreted. Cincinnati might simply be overplaying its hand, acting out of desperation and hoping a silly team takes the bait and offers too much for the right to hand out a massive extension. It's also possible that this is a more coordinated negotiating strategy. Have the Bengals earned that trust?
Perhaps the most optimistic outlook would be Cincinnati feeling confident that it's closing in on a Higgins extension, and its asking price is a way of shooing off teams before a deal gets done.
Related: Tag and Trade: Could Bengals Get Pick for Higgins?
At the very least, de facto general manager Duke Tobin seemed optimistic about signing Higgins at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"Seems like three, four, five years I've been talking about Tee," Tobin said. "I think you guys all know how I feel about Tee Higgins. I think Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player, and I want him on my football team. Whenever I'm in charge of a football team, I want Tee Higgins, so I'm going to do what I can to get Tee Higgins. Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement. Always has been, and it continues to be, and we'll work hard to get that done."
It is more than justified for fans to feel frustrated with the state of negotiations, both regarding high-profile trades and extensions. For sanity's sake, it may be healthy to open one's mind to the possibility that the Bengals could still pull this off, even if their recent behavior suggests otherwise.
Related: Bears Blockbuster? Trade Prediction Sends Trey Hendrickson North
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This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 9:05 PM.