Tee Higgins was supposed to be the grand prize of free agency for New England Patriots fans, but the Bengals made sure the star wide receiver didn’t enter the market.
Cincinnati signed Higgins to a four-year, $115 million extension to go along with a lucrative extension for Ja’Marr Chase. The deals ensured Joe Burrow would have his top two weapons for the prime of his career.
Rocky Arceneaux represents Higgins and Chase, and the agent revealed behind-the-scenes details of negotiations between the former and the Bengals.
“Prior to the combine, we talked about the franchise tag and what impact it could potentially have on Tee,” Arceneaux told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “And when they decided to tag him, I had assumed, because we had talked about it prior to the tag with the intent of trading. So we proceeded along those lines, and once the process started, it became clear and evident that the Bengals, like I say, it was more inclined to pay him rather than trade him.”
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Arceneaux’s comments to the Bengals beat reporter confirmed rumors of Cincinnati entertaining trade ideas even after using the franchise tag on the 26-year-old. The agent also revealed he began talking to other teams. However, Florio pointed out that it wasn’t clear if the Bengals gave Higgins and his representation permission for those communications.
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There has been mixed reporting on how interested the Patriots were in Higgins. Any trade would have cost New England a lot in draft resources, which could have hurt its ability to retool a flawed roster. Money would not have been an issue. However, there might have been a price that was too high for Mike Vrabel’s side.
Those hypotheticals don’t matter since the Bengals declined conversations about compensation for Higgins, according to Arceneaux. And the Patriots are left trying to find other options to acquire a No. 1 wide receiver.