WR Tee Higgins and other two Bengals player’s enter transfer portal… See more…
Burrow’s five-year, $275 million contract is already bogging down the cap sheet, and Chase’s extension will almost certainly preclude Higgins from getting a contract commensurate with his talent. As such, the expectation has been that the Bengals would trade the wide receiver at some point this offseason.
With the 2024 NFL Draft coming up and serving as a soft deadline for that deal, it’s worth exploring potential trade partners for the Bengals and Higgins.
With Daniel Jones on his last legs as a starter and in desperate need of a WR1, the New York Giants represent a perfect fit for the next stage of Higgins’ career.
Higgins has two 1,000-yard seasons on his resume, and he’s never posted a target rating below the triple digits. He’s a quarterback’s best friend, and after years of playing second fiddle to A.J. Green and Ja’Marr Chase, he deserves a chance to be a team’s unquestioned lead receiver.
What he’d cost in a trade is a good question, since he’s a 25-year-old with a history of elite production but also a history of injury issues and limited exposure as the top target in the passing game.
Higgins has never played in more than 14 games in a season, so teams may be cautious about him, though perhaps more in extension talks than in trade negotiations with the Bengals.
There have been five wide receivers traded this offseason: Jerry Jeudy, Diontae Johnson, Rondale Moore, Keenan Allen, and Stefon Diggs.
None of those receivers are exact equivalents, as some are veteran WR1’s and others are younger, unproven receivers with potential, but the returns for them in their respective trades do shine light on the current admission price on the receiver trade market.
Higgins is closest to Jeudy and Moore in age, though he’s better represented by Allen and Diggs in terms of raw talent.
It’s not impossible to imagine him going for a first-round pick, but he’d more likely garner a day-two selection.
The Giants have six selections in this month’s upcoming NFL Draft, though their first rounder is at No. 6 overall, which is a price far too steep for Higgins.
They do hold the No. 47 overall selection from the Seattle Seahawks (via the Leonard Williams trade), and that could be a good starting point in trade talks.
Given that he’s set to play in 2024 on the franchise tag, Higgins will also require an extension from whatever team trades for him.
The receiver market has exploded in recent years, and with all of CeeDee Lamb, Chase, and Justin Jefferson also extension-eligible this offseason, the position will continue to set new contract benchmarks for future receivers to hit.
Currently, the biggest receiver contract by total value is Davante Adams’ five-year, $140 million deal; by total guarantee, it’s Cooper Kupp’s three-year, $80.1 million deal ($75 million guaranteed); and by average annual value, it’s Tyreek Hill’s four-year, $120 million deal.
Notably, Jeudy received a three-year, $58 million contract from the Cleveland Browns as part of his trade.
Higgins will certainly get more than that given his elite production relative to Jeudy, and the Giants have plenty of future cap space to work with.
The team only has $7.3 million in cap room right now, due to having six players with a cap hit greater than $10 million next season, but Daniel Jones ($47.85 million) and tight end Darren Waller ($14.1 million) are eating disproportionate chunks of the cap sheet.
Whether via restructures or releases, the team can easily make room to afford Higgins now and in the future.
Calvin Ridley just signed a four-year, $92 million contract in free agency as a 29-year-old with two 1,000+ yard seasons, so that should be the baseline for Higgins in negotiations.
He’ll likely cross the $100 million plateau, which would make him just the fifth wide receiver to do so.
