Everyone in Cincinnati is desperate to know what the team is planning on doing with their superb receiver
If you haven’t picked it up yet, the biggest drama of this offseason for the Cincinnati Bengals is going to be how to handle their high quality wide receiver Tee Higgins. Up until this point, the team has made it clear that they expect the superstar wide receiver back next season regardless of the impending salary cap hit of $23 million if he comes back on the franchise tag.
There is some truth that Cincinnati has the 6th most available cap space of any team in football with just over $61 million in available funds next season but it is also critical to understand that after Joe Burrow‘s enormous contract extension and the impending extension to Ja’Marr Chase, that money will quickly evaporate in future seasons.
While there is some truth to it for all NFL teams, Cincinnati management clearly believes in the philosophy of telling the fans what they want to hear. Last offseason, Cincinnati’s director of player personnel Duke Tobin shut down rumors that the team would deal Higgins to avoid the salary cap dilemma by making the announcement that teams “can go get their own Tee Higgins”. That was a pretty strong statement last season but clearly inaction is no longer an option as the team is now forced to either sign the fifth year receiver to a new contract or let him walk in free agency.
On Wednesday, Tobin was interviewed at the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama as he was preparing to scout college seniors ahead of this off-season’s NFL Draft. Since it is clearly the most controversial news going on for the team this offseason, reporters didn’t hesitate to ask the de facto General Manager what his thoughts were on the situation.
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